The Most Important Thing
by tvdspnlover
Summary: Kat had one mission her entire life. Protect John and Sarah Connor. She had never thought before what it could cost her, but after jumping forward in time and meeting Derek Reese, she begins to question everything. Secrets are revealed and relationships develop, but who will survive? Derek/OC
1. The Turk

Five hours. That's how long the chess tournament that Kat was being forced to watch had been going on for. When she had joined forces with the Connor's two years ago she had been expecting non-stop action…not chess. She looked over at Sarah who seemed engrossed by the tournament, as she tried to assess how it was going. From the worried expression on John's face, the answer was not good. She let her mind drift off to her late father and thought about how he would enjoy the tournament, as she remembered he was an avid chess player. She tried to hold onto her memories as strongly as possible but slowly she was forgetting more about the man who had taken her in as a child. Who had raised her for one mission. Protect the Connor's, no matter what. However, neither of them had expected him not to be there to help her. She could see the fear in his eyes as she held onto his hand and watched him slip away. He wasn't scared about dying, but instead that he hadn't taught her enough. She was only sixteen when it happened, it was all too soon. Ever since Cameron, their Terminator protector had arrived, she felt useless. How could she compete with someone who could bend metal with their hand?

"Are you alright?" John questioned, when he noticed the sad expression on her face.

"Yeah, just thinking" Kat shrugged back.

This seemed to satisfy John as he turned his head back to the tournament, concentration etched over his face. Sometimes she could see the leader that he was supposed to become when she looked at him…but other times she just saw the scared 15 year old boy he was. Even if she hadn't been ordered to protect him, she still would. He and Sarah were the closest things she had to family. The only things really. She saw Sarah's eyes flicker over to a man in a large trench coat who had just entered the room. It was dark so it was hard to see his face, but Kat could tell the man had evoked some sort of reaction in Sarah. She could see why, he was clearly attractive. Sarah quickly averted her gaze as the man seemed to scan the room.

"Your only human, you know" Kat teased, as they watched him leave as quickly as he entered.

"It's not that, he just…looked familiar" Sarah shook her head, as Kat frowned.

The tournament was over soon after that, and thankfully the Turk had lost. Andy wouldn't be getting his military contract, and he didn't realise just how lucky he was. Kat had gone outside to grab some chips for dinner when she received a frantic phone call from Sarah, who explained to her that Andy was dead and the killer was the man they noticed from before. As if on cue, she spotted the same man running towards her into the alleyway besides the building. Without a second's thought, she threw her chips at the man, surprising him enough that she was able to lunge at him, pushing them both to the ground. However, the older man quickly got the upper hand, as he came to grab her from behind, restricting her from moving her arms. She pushed off from a nearby wall and sent him stumbling backwards, which allowed her to get an arm free and elbow him in the stomach. She then whipped around a sent a strong punch to his face, and kicked the back of his knees, sending him back to the ground. She thought she had finally won the fight, but suddenly he kicked out and sent her flying down beside him. Within a second, he had rolled on top of her, his strong arms pinning her down. That was when she noticed the symbol on his arm, the unmistakable label of prisoners of Skynet.

"You're from the future" She gasped, as their eyes locked.

"Kat!" They heard Sarah cry from not far away, as the man jumped off her and began running down the alley.

He hadn't gotten far before the police showed up and arrested him, as Sarah grabbed Kat, hiding them both behind a nearby wall.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Sarah insisted, as she surveyed Kat for injuries.

"I'm fine" Kat shook her off.

"What were you thinking? What if he had shot you?" Sarah exclaimed.

"Like you wouldn't have done the same" Kat scoffed.

"I could have handled him" Sarah stated.

"I'm not a little kid anymore" Kat told her, as Cameron approached and they brought the conversation to an end.

* * *

John had managed to easily hack into the police database and confirmed that the man was indeed from the future. Kat had persuaded Sarah into taking her along to see the man, seeing as she had no classes on that day. Before they had jumped into the future Kat had turned eighteen and been looking into colleges, but everything that happened in the last weeks was a harsh reminder that they would never have a normal life.

Sarah was the first to enter the interrogation room the man was being held in, as he looked at her in shock, as well as a little bit of awe. He seemed to sit up straighter when he saw Kat following not far behind, as the two women sat down opposite him, disguised as his lawyers. No one said anything for a few seconds, as Kat couldn't take her gaze away from the man's piercing green eyes.

"You shouldn't be here" He announced.

"I know who you are" Sarah retorted.

"And I know who you are. Who else but Sarah Connor would have burned down that poor kid's house?" The man went on.

"It was you, wasn't it? On Andy's porch that night. You've been watching. You wanted to kill him, the poor kid, and you did" Sarah suggested.

"I didn't do it. All I wanted was the Turk. Somebody else killed him and took the machine" He replied.

"What?" Sarah frowned.

"He was dead when I got there. He was dead and the Turk was gone, and I hoped you'd done it" The man told her.

"You thought I killed him?" Sarah scoffed.

But you're here. And the Turk is out there. So we both failed" The man retorted.

"And how do we know you're not just lying to us? That you've not hidden the Turk somewhere?" Kat inquired, as the man seemed a little taken aback when she spoke.

"We're on the same side here. Who are you anyways?" He asked.

"She's John's adopted sister" Sarah pointed out, as the man's eyes widened.

"Do you know me?" Kat queried.

"...We've never met...but I've heard a lot about you" The man informed her, as her frown deepened.

"From who?" Kat inquired.

"Who else but John Connor. He pretty much gushes about you" The man couldn't stop the grin from forming on his face.

"So, why have we never met then?" Kat asked, as she began putting the pieces together.

"Look, you gotta get out of here. If you haven't figured it out, I have a T-triple 8 on my ass. Now if you found me, it will too" The man went on.

"We should get you out" Sarah suggested.

"Go. Find the partner, the Russian. He's gotta be neck-deep in this also" The man told them.

"You're dead in here" Sarah stated.

"Go! Please. I won't be the bastard who brings metal down on the Connors, so just go" The man sighed, as Sarah stood up.

"Wait…you can't be serious? We can't leave him here!" Kat insisted.

"We can't get him out either" Sarah replied.

"You're prettier than your picture" The man piped up, surprising them both.

"Picture?" Sarah questioned.

"Yeah, it's actually how I clocked you. My brother carried your snap for luck" The man admitted.

"Who's your brother?" Sarah couldn't help but ask.

"What does it matter? You don't know the Reese boys, and you never will" He mumbled.

"Reese boys?" Sarah said, frozen in place.

"Derek Reese. Brother's Kyle" He exclaimed, as both their eyes widened.

* * *

"So, are we going to talk about it?" Kat questioned, as they got back to the car.

"Talk about what?" Sarah tried to dismiss.

"The fact that he's never met me. That Cameron didn't know me either…I'm not there in the future. I can only think of one reason why I wouldn't be…" Kat trailed off.

"Don't think like that" Sarah shook her head.

"How can I not? And it's not like I'd have died recently either if Cameron didn't know me. I…I must have been dead for a long time" Kat explained.

"So have I. But we can change that future, that's what we're doing here" Sarah insisted.

"If something happens to me-" Kat started, but Sarah cut her off.

"Nothing is going to happen to you! I'm going to keep you safe, just like I always have" Sarah informed her, as Kat frowned.

"What about him? He's John's Uncle" Kat insisted.

"Don't worry, we're going to save him too" Sarah smirked at her.

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I've decided to write this fanfic as it's been a whole decade since this show started, which is crazy. If you want me to continue please leave as a review:)


	2. Breakout

They soon found out that Derek was being transferred and picked up John and Cameron and began to trail after him. Cameron went ahead and jumped onto the vehicle, pulling the driver out of his seat. Kat watched this in awe as they went around the front of the van, as she sometimes forgot just how strong Cameron was.

"Get out of the van! Right now!" Sarah shouted, pointing her gun towards the scared passenger who rushed out.

Cameron quickly entered the van and opened the inside door, to reveal a surprised Derek. Kat rushed in after her knowing all hell was about to break loose if she didn't intervene.

"Metal bitch" Derek spat out, as he raised his gun to Cameron, who quickly disarmed him.

"She's on our side…Cameron, back off" Kat advised, as she ushered the girl to take a step back.

"Triple 8. Lose him" Sarah ordered Cameron, passing Cameron a gun.

Kat couldn't help but notice the way that Derek flinched away from Cameron, and shut the door behind her. It was clear how uncomfortable he was having to be around her straight away. As Sarah tried to drive them away, the way Cameron was flinging the Terminator around in the back was causing them to fling from one side of the road to the other. Kat tried to keep her balance by holding onto the back of the seat Derek was sitting on. Soon they were able to turn off from the road, as they all rushed out.

"Let's go!" Sarah insisted, as they saw John stop the car in front of them.

"Where's Cameron?" John questioned, as he jumped out of the vehicle.

"Leave her. Let's go" Derek said, dismissively.

However, John was never going to do this and tried to rush towards the van, but both his mother and Derek held him back. Suddenly Cameron was thrown out of the van and tumbled across the road, as Kat got out her gun.

"Stay back!" Sarah exclaimed, as John continued to try to push past them.

Kat cringed as the terminator climbed on top of the girl and began to punch her repeatedly. Without a second's thought, Kat emptied her mag into the machine, knowing that Cameron could only take so much. She gulped as he turned around and grabbed Cameron's own gun.

"Get down" Sarah cried, as she pushed John to the floor.

Kat made sure to shield both John and Sarah's bodies from the Triple 8, going back to her fundamental mission of protecting them. She looked to her side, unsure whether John's Uncle now needed to be included in that group. Derek looked at the machine head on, knowing that he was it's target. The terminator's gaze scanned over Kat for a moment, as Derek put an arm out protectively in front of her. He didn't need anyone dying for him on his conscience. A moment later, Cameron hit the machine with a large metal pole, but it was too late. The terminator had already pulled the trigger, as a bullet hit Derek in the stomach. He quickly fell to the ground, clutching his stomach, as Kat crouched down beside him. She held his hand over his stomach, trying to apply as much pressure as possible to the wound. She couldn't let John's Uncle die. Not now.

"You're...you're going to be okay" Kat told him, as she tried to stop her own hand from shaking.

Derek turned his head, to fully look at her for perhaps the first time. Taking in her pale skin, long brunette hair and blue eyes that were filled with worry, and put it against the image that he had always had in his mind.

"You're younger than I expected" Derek mumbled, before slipping out of consciousness.

Sarah quickly began trying to shake him awake, as Kat frowned at what he had just said, wondering what he meant. However, she quickly shook this from her mind, knowing it wasn't important at that moment.

"We need to go. Now!" Kat insisted, as she and Sarah helped pull Derek up.

* * *

Cameron had quickly and effectively removed the terminator's chip, and they had rushed back to the house, with Derek bleeding in the back seat. Kat tried to keep pressure on the wound as they carried him in, but it was no use, he was bleeding too much.

"Let's get him on the table" Kat suggested, throwing the contents of the table onto the floor.

They helped haul him onto the furniture, as he let out a groan, obviously in a lot of pain. Kat grabbed a few towels and instantly began to re-apply pressure to the wound, but she knew it was no good.

"Do something" Kat pleaded with Cameron, who stopped beside Derek.

"Don't let that thing touch me" Derek growled.

"We have to stop the bleeding" Kat retorted.

"Get away from me!" Derek shouted, trying to sit upright.

"Please don't move. You're increasing your blood loss" Cameron advised.

"She just needs to check your wound. C'mon, she can diagnose you better than any of us and you know it" Kat reasoned with him, as he reluctantly allowed her to do so.

Cameron put her hands over his wound and looked him up and down, observing the damage, her expression as cold as usual.

"I can't fix it" Cameron announced.

"You took a bullet out of me" Sarah stated.

"He has internal damage. He needs medical attention or he's going to die" Cameron explained.

"Can you do something?" Sarah looked to Kat, who sadly shook her head.

She had been looking into going to Nursing school before they had jumped in time, and while she did have some medical knowledge, there was no way she could help in their situation. In response, Sarah ran out of the room and into her bedroom, clearly looking for something.

"There must be something you can do…if we get the equipment…" Kat suggested.

"I'm not a medical professional" Cameron replied, as John rushed out after his mum.

John had rushed out of the house not long after, as Kat guessed that Sarah had told him the truth about who the man was. Kat had tasked Sarah to grab some more clean towels, as the ones they had been using were already soaked through.

"It's going to be okay. You're going to be okay" Kat tried to soothe him, as Derek's breathing got worse.

Suddenly the fast rise and fall of his chest stopped, as Kat gasped and began trying to shake him.

"Derek? Derek?! Sarah, he's not breathing" She called after the woman in the other room, who rushed through.

Sarah looked like she was going to cry for a moment, before a sad look of defeat washed over her face. Kat began desperately performing CPR on the man, hoping to get his heart started again…but she had no idea what they would do after that. A moment later the door burst open, as John stumbled through with a familiar face not far behind. Charley Dixon, Sarah's ex-boyfriend before they had jumped in time was standing there, amazement on his face. He quickly went into action, as he took over the CPR that Kat had been performing. She saw the tears welling up in John's eyes as he knew one of the family he had left could be about to die. She quickly rushed to his side and pulled him into a hug, knowing it must have been awful for him to see. He was still only 15, she thought to herself. She let out a shaky breath, when after a few minutes Derek's heart began to beat again. There was something about the man that she couldn't shake, he was a mystery to her, something that didn't happen very often.

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I've been pleasantly surprised at the response to this story, as I was a little worried this fandom would be completely dead, haha. I've been looking through the other OC stories in this fandom and I've noticed that most of them include the OC being John's biological sister or lover, so I think it should be quite interesting to see how Kat, who is not as vital to the cause, can change the storyline. Please leave a review:)

olischulu: Thank you! I hope you continue with this story:) I didn't think of that while I was re-watching that episode, but now you bring it up, it does sound a little bit weird. I think he's supposed to be about 30, so definitely not a kid anymore haha.

fastandloud: Aw, thank you! I hope you like how this chapter turned out:)

madmikee: Thank you:) Hopefully you'll enjoy the story as it continues to develop!


	3. Will He Survive?

"Bullet nicked his left lung. I got a fragment lodged in the soft tissue, I can get it out, but will someone please tell me what the hell is going on around here?" Charley insisted.

"She's a machine! She's a liar!" Derek cried, trying to sit up, seeing Cameron in the corner of his eye.

"Sedative, my bag!" Charley yelled behind him.

Kat had moved into position at his other side, and tried to hold him down by his shoulder. She knew the more he moved the worse his injuries would become. Sarah took a step back, becoming frozen in her place. Kat knew it must have been a shock for her, finding out that the man she loved had a mystery brother she'd never hears about.

"She's a liar! Everything she says is a lie! Don't listen to her!" Derek exclaimed, as he grabbed onto Kat's leather jacket.

"Don't listen- don't! Don't! Get that bitch away from me! No, no! Get that bitch away from me!" Derek begged, as he saw Cameron preparing the sedative.

Kat took his hand in her own, as he held onto it tightly, seemingly seeing it as a tether to reality. He looked towards her with pleading eyes, with confusion mixed in.

"Cameron, pass Charley the syringe" Kat told her, as she approached.

However, Cameron acted like she hadn't heard this and loomed above Derek.

"Get away from me! No!" Derek shook his head.

"Hey, it's okay. She's not going to hurt you" Kat promised, squeezing his hand.

"Do you want him to die?" Charley accused, as he grabbed Cameron's arm to stop her from injecting him.

"If I wanted him to die-" Cameron started, but she was quickly cut off.

"Cameron! Please, just go" Kat insisted, as Charley injected him with the sedative.

"Mum, come on, what can I do?" John questioned.

"I need a manual aspirator. To drain the lung, okay? It's in the back of my truck. You know what it looks like?" Charley asked John.

"Yeah, I remember" John nodded.

"Go get it. It's in the car…Oh, my god. Gunshots, punctures, burns, some broken bones. Second-rate medical treatment if anything at all. Sarah…" Charley trailed off, as Sarah looked at him, obviously at a loss at what to say.

"I need more light" Charley stated, as Sarah passed a lamp over, as Derek seemed to slip out of consciousness.

"Stay with me, okay? Derek?" Kat queried, as his eyes fluttered shut, but his grip on her hand remained strong.

* * *

"How are you doing?" Charley inquired.

After an hour she had managed to get her hand free from Derek's surprisingly strong grip, and was slowly watching as his blood washed off her hands. However, no matter how much she scrubbed she felt like she could still see the red substance.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? Did Sarah explain everything to you?" Kat suggested, turning around and drying off her hands.

"Machines…the end of the world…people from the future…" Charley mumbled, still not having taken it all in.

"Maybe you should sit down" Kat laughed, as they walked into the other room.

"And you've known about all this since you were a kid?" Charley asked, as they sat down at the table.

"That's a lot for one kid to take on" Charley stated.

"I survived" She shrugged, as she spotted Cameron walking into the kitchen with a pillow in hand.

"What are you doing?" Kat questioned, as she saw Cameron hovering over Derek, a pillow in her hands.

In response, she carefully moved his head and placed a pillow underneath, and looked back up at her in confusion.

"Did you do something to him? In the future?" Kat asked.

"I don't know" Cameron replied.

"How can you not know? Because he certainly seems to remember you" Kat accused.

"When they reprogram us, they scrub our memories. It increases the chance of success" Cameron explained.

"Oh…" Kat trailed off, realising how hostile she had been.

"Have I done something to upset you?" Cameron queried.

"No, why do you ask?" Kat frowned.

"Ever since Derek Reese has arrived you've seemed hostile towards me" Cameron answered.

"He just made me realise that…you're not human. You're a machine" She confessed.

"You had forgotten that?" Cameron inquired, confused.

Before Kat could reply, Derek suddenly began coughing up blood, as she sprang into action and pulled him onto his side.

"His lungs are haemorrhaging. He's drowning in his own blood" Cameron advised, as Kat's eyes widened in panic.

"Charley!" She screamed.

* * *

They managed to stop the bleeding but Derek had lost a lot of blood and wasn't going to make it without a transfusion. Cameron suggested just letting Derek die as he knew too much, which appalled Kat. Luckily, John asked to be tested to see if he was a match and thankfully he was. Kat gave Cameron a glare as she walked into the kitchen, and sat down besides John who was slowly transfusing his blood.

"Does it hurt much?" Kat asked.

"Only when I breathe" John gave her a pained laugh.

"It must be so weird…suddenly having an uncle" Kat stated.

"I just keep thinking, is this what my dad looked like? Is this how he acted?" John admitted.

"Maybe you can ask him that when he's better" Kat smiled at him.

"If he lives" John sighed.

"I don't understand why my dad never mentioned that you had an uncle…I mean surely he would have met him in the future" Kat exclaimed.

When Kat's adoptive father had first told her that he was a soldier from the future, she had thought he was insane and had tried to run away from him. However, after she had seen the machines first hand she quickly realised that he was telling the truth. She still wished he had just be lying.

"Maybe he just didn't mention it because he never thought you would meet him" John suggested.

"I wish he had told me…" Kat trailed off.

"What's wrong?" John queried.

"I don't like this. The unknown. I've always known one thing…protect you and Sarah. And now this guy shows up…am I supposed to protect him like I would you?" Kat pondered.

"Kat, don't talk like that" John sighed.

"Like what?" Kat questioned.

"Like protecting us is all there is to you" John replied.

Before she could answer Derek suddenly woke up and began shouting for his brother, surprising them both.

"Where's Kyle? Where's Kyle? Where is he? Where'd you send him?" Derek repeated, as he grabbed onto John's shirt.

"Woah, woah. Stop, its okay. Let him go" Kat said, as she managed to wrangle his grip off John.

Charley and Sarah had rushed into the room and were trying to restrain Derek, but he was strong even in his weakened state.

"No, uh-uh, no. Get off me! Where is he? Where'd you send him? You owe me the truth!" Derek shouted at John, who backed away, with tears in his eyes.

"Get this off! Get it off of me! Get- He's my blood. He's my blood! He's my blood!" Derek cried, as he slowly stilled, seeming to have worn himself out.

"Derek…hey, look at me. You're confused, alright? The years 2007. You're with Sarah and John Connor. You got sent back, remember?" Kat told him, as he looked at her with unfocused eyes.

"John…where…where's Kyle?" Derek stuttered, his thoughts a mess.

"He…he got sent back too, remember?" Kat went on.

"John sent him back…and me. I…where…where am I?" Derek asked, blinking hard.

* * *

Kat watched from across the room as later that evening, John sat down next to Derek and told him the fate of his brother. She watched Derek's expression changed from prideful to sad and then back again. She could tell John so badly wanted to tell him that he was his uncle, but with Sarah looming behind him, he couldn't. Kat was glad he had lived, she had so much to ask him, but she knew he would need rest. She saw Cameron standing not far behind her and frowned, wondering what the machine was thinking.

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I think it's going to be really interesting seeing Kat's relationship develop with Derek, and find out more about her past. Please leave a review if you want me to continue writing this story:)

olischulu: I'm glad you think my OC is well integrated, as I feel like that's really important. Season 1's plot is going to stay quite similar, but Season 2 will be going down a much more AU route as Kat's going to change the storyline quite a bit. Thanks for the review:)


	4. Don't Tell Him

Kat watched from across the room as John sat down next to Derek and told him the fate of his brother. She watched Derek's expression changed from prideful to sad and then back again. She could tell John so badly wanted to tell him that he was his uncle, but with Sarah looming behind him, he couldn't.

The next morning, she slowly approached Derek who was sleeping soundly, obviously exhausted over what had happened the last few days. Sarah had suggested that he sleep on the couch, but Kat wouldn't hear of it and offered her bed up. She rubbed her lower back lightly, having not had a good night's sleep. She crouched down beside the bed and began to peel away the bandage covering his wound, when his hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her wrist. He looked at her with wide eyes, as it took him a moment to realise who it was.

"Sorry" He mumbled, letting go of her wrist.

"It's alright. You got shot, it's understandable that you'd be jumpy" Kat shrugged.

"Is…is this your room?" He questioned, seeming to wake up a bit more.

"Yeah" She nodded, as she peeled back his bandage.

"I could have slept on the couch, you know" He suggested.

"I think I can handle sleeping on the sofa for a few days" She exclaimed, happy with how he's wound looked.

"John never said you had an English accent…I guess I thought you would have lost it" Derek informed her.

"Oh and I guess you're going to make fun of me too…John did for about 2 years after we first met" Kat rolled her eyes, sticking the bandage back down.

"No, it's just different…I don't think I've heard anyone with an English accent since Judgement Day" Derek confessed, unsure why he said it.

"You'll get sick of me and my accent checking on your wound pretty soon" Kat laughed, as she went to stand up.

"…You can't tell John" She mumbled, her voice suddenly serious, when she made it to the doorframe.

"Tell him what?" Derek frowned.

"Just act like you knew me vaguely in the future, he's already suspicious that Cameron didn't know me" Kat went on.

"You want me to lie to him?" Derek questioned.

"It's better than the truth" She theorised.

"I…I'm sorry" Derek offered, not knowing what else to say.

"Do you know when…it happens?" She inquired.

"No" He shook his head.

"Okay…it's probably better I don't know" She stated, before walking out the room.

Derek watched her go with a frown on his face, she was completely different to what he had expected. He hadn't known what to say when she asked him when she would die…it was kinder to bend the truth a little. He didn't know exactly when she would die, but how could he tell someone they only had a few years left to live?

* * *

"How is he?" Sarah asked Kat, when she entered the kitchen.

"As good as can be expected I guess" She shrugged.

Sarah tried to convince John to bunk off school, so they could retrieve the hand that they had lost at the scene of Derek's escape, but he wasn't having it.

"I can help if you want" Kat piped up.

"No, go to school, look after him. Cameron can help" Sarah theorised.

"Yes, ma'am" Kat replied, giving a mock salute.

Sarah rolled her eyes fondly, as Kat grabbed her bag and began to rush after John, who seemed suspiciously eager to get to school. Kat thought over her conversation with Derek most of the day, feeling strangely unaffected by the conformation that she was going to die. She realised that somewhere along the way she had stopped seeing herself as a person, she was a bodyguard primarily. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. She skipped last period and wandered back to the house and began to scope out the area like she always did before John returned. She looked for Derek on the couch and frowned when she saw he was no longer there. She heard a clicking sound from Sarah's bedroom and took out the small gun she had concealed in her waistband. She pushed the doors open to find Derek sitting cross-legged on the floor, reloading guns.

"Should you even be out of bed yet?" Kat queried, noticing the blood on his top.

"I'm fine…you seem a little jumpy" He dismissed, glancing up to where she put her gun on the side.

"Well I'm not used to having anyone else here. Why are you reloading guns?" Kat asked.

"I don't like firing a weapon I didn't set up myself" He explained, as Kat nodded, thinking it was understandable.

"Sarah won't like you being in here" Kat pointed out.

"Why?" He inquired.

"It's her room…privacy" She stated, seeing his blank expression.

"There's not much of that in the future" Derek retorted.

"There's no Sarah Connor who will bust your head for going through her things either" Kat informed him, as Derek gave her an amused look.

"Where were you today?" He asked, as he went to stand up, seemingly having taken her advice.

"School…I skipped last period" She shrugged.

"You go to school...How old are you?" He frowned, as he looked her up and down.

"Eighteen…why?" She replied.

"John always made you seem older" He mumbled, as he began to walk out of the room, a gun in tow.

"Sorry to disappoint" She shrugged, walking behind him.

"If you're here who's watching John?" He queried, as they entered the living room.

"Sarah usually turns up at the school an hour before the end of the day…then she just trials him home. He doesn't know, I don't think" She exclaimed, grabbing a drink from the fridge.

"Well then who's watching you?" He suggested, as Kat scoffed.

"I can handle myself" She told him, as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"You're bleeding again. Let me look at it" She said, changing the subject.

"It's fine" He responded.

"It's not fine. Sit down" She ordered him, as he let out an amused sound.

"Who was that guy? The paramedic?" Derek questioned, sitting on the couch with a small groan.

"Sarah's ex" Kat mumbled, as she crouched down beside him.

"He's a liability" Derek suggested, as Kat lifted his shirt up to reveal the wound that had soaked through the dressing.

"You'd be dead without him" Kat retorted, as she went to grab a few things from the counter.

"We can't trust him" Derek insisted, as she came over with a new dressing.

"He's a good guy. He won't tell anyone" Kat shook her head.

"You're being naïve" Derek exclaimed, as she ripped off the bandage, as he hissed in pain.

"Oops" She smirked, as she began to clean the wound.

"I suppose you trust the machine too?" He asked.

"We need Cameron-" She started, but he cut her off.

"It's not a person. It's not something you can trust" He told her.

"I don't trust her. But at the end of the day she can protect John better than any of us. You're not exactly up to it right now, are you?" She pointed out, putting the new dressing on.

"You're making a mistake" He shook his head, as she looked up to him.

"Did you know her…in the future?" Kat guessed, feeling a little intimidated under his intense gaze.

"I can't have that thing here…I can't sleep with it here" He admitted, his face softening a bit.

She stood up and left the room for a moment before coming back in with a small device and placing it in Derek's hand.

"What's this?" He queried.

"EMP grenade. It's small but it will do the job. Try not to use it though, or we'll have to move" She explained.

"I didn't realise you guys had things like this back then…now, I guess" He frowned.

"I came up with this design, John built it" She shrugged, as they heard the door open.

"Hey, how was school?" Kat called over to John.

"It was alright" He mumbled in response.

"Just alright? Because I heard that you got partnered up with Cheri in science" She grinned, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…I mean…that was…wait, how do you even know about that?" He stuttered.

"Oh, I have my ways…she's cute, a little weird, but cute" She smirked.

"I'm glad you approve" John chuckled, as the door opened once again.

"I need you to get on the computer and find an address" Sarah announced, handing a piece of paper to John.

He grabbed the paper from her hand and gave Kat a look before walking to his room. Derek couldn't help but take note of the interactions of the last few minutes, finding the Connor's different from what he had expected.

"Who's been in my room?" Sarah frowned, noticing her guns were out.

"Don't look at me" Kat replied, putting her hands up in mock defence.

"Go in my bedroom again and I'll bust your head" Sarah warned him, repeating the exact words Kat had said earlier.

"Now that is a classic 'I told you so' moment" Kat laughed, as even Derek had a small smile on his face.

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thanks to the guest who reviewed, it will help motivate me to write some more chapters. Please leave a review:)


	5. Family Tensions

Early the next morning, Kat was chewing on the burnt pancakes that Sarah had cooked, and grimaced when she had to chew around a particularly charred bit.

"They're not that bad" Sarah insisted.

"Well…I've had worse" Kat giggled, as Cameron came to sit opposite her.

"Maybe Cameron should cook breakfast tomorrow?" Kat suggested, giving the machine a pleading look.

"I am adequately able to make pancakes" Cameron frowned, when she saw Sarah shake her head.

"Yeah, if you want to be poisoned" Derek announced, walking into the room.

"What makes you think we aren't already?" Kat mumbled, as Sarah rolled her eyes.

"When are you going back to Dimitri?" Sarah asked Cameron, as Derek leaned against the counter.

"Today" Cameron answered, simply as Kat went back to nibbling on the pancakes.

"What's the status on the hand?" Derek questioned, picking up a plate.

"Got a good idea who has it…FBI Agent Ellison" Sarah told him.

"Same guy that questioned me in county lockup? What, they only have one FBI agent in this town?" Derek suggested, picking up two pancakes.

"Only one who can put this whole thing together. From what I saw at his house, maybe he already has" Sarah confessed.

"You think he could be a threat?" Kat frowned, as Sarah nodded.

"We eat the table" Sarah called after Derek, who had already begun to walk away.

He turned and raised at eyebrow, as the only two seats were already taken, and Cameron didn't look like she was going to budge.

"You can have my seat…I don't really want to risk giving myself any more food poisoning" Kat shrugged, with a mischievous grin.

"They're not that bad!" Sarah repeated, as Kat placed her pancakes on the counter.

"Here. Doctor Silberman's address" John announced, shoving the piece of paper in his mum's hands.

"Your pancakes are getting cold" Sarah told him, but he pushed past her.

"You coming, Kat?" John questioned, as she hopped off the counter.

"You're not hungry?" Sarah frowned.

"No" John spat out, as he opened the door.

"Since when?" Sarah questioned, but he was already out the door.

"I'll talk to him" Kat sighed, when she saw Sarah giving her a look.

"John…hey, wait up!" Kat shouted, as they began their walk to school.

"What?" John snapped.

"Jesus, someone woke up on the wrong side of bed…what's wrong?" Kat inquired.

"Nothing" John retorted.

"Clearly something's happened…come on, you can tell me" Kat insisted.

"Just drop it, alright?" John told her, a small pleading tone in his voice.

"Okay, message received. Let's detour before first period. I'll buy you some breakfast…and don't even suggest your not hungry. I can hear your stomach from here" Kat stated, as John let out an amused snort.

* * *

The pair walked back home that day in the uncomfortable silence that had surrounded them all day. Kat had noticed that John hadn't been picking up calls from his mother, and even sitting next to Cheri hadn't been enough to perk him up. She guessed it was something to do with Sarah, but clearly, he didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm going to my room" John mumbled, as they neared the house.

Kat almost said something, but decided not to, not wanting to get in an argument with one of the only people she considered family. She noticed Derek was standing in their yard, looking at the sky in almost disbelief and started to approach him.

"Looking for anything in particular?" Kat questioned, seeing she startled him a little.

"I can barely remember what the sky looked like before Judgement Day…what grass felt like underneath your feet…" He trailed off, as Kat realised he was barefoot.

"I guess we take a lot of things for granted" She sighed, as she sat down on the swing set.

"He seemed like he was in a bad mood" Derek ushered to where John had slammed the door to the house.

She realised that he must have heard them coming, even playing close enough attention to hear the annoyance in John's voice. However, he hadn't expected her to approach him.

"Might just be teenage boy drama" She shrugged.

"Sarah wants to talk to him when she gets back" Derek informed her, as she nodded.

"Where is she?" Kat questioned, wondering where the eldest Connor had gone.

"Arrowhead. To see Agent Ellison" Derek informed her.

"On her own?" Kat inquired.

"Who else could she take?" Derek retorted, as Kat could tell he was avoiding the subject of Cameron.

"She's different…from when you knew her, in the future" Kat suggested, as Derek instantly knew what she meant.

"Not different enough" Derek mumbled.

"Did…did you ever meet someone called Peter Dale?" Kat couldn't help but question, her thoughts suddenly going to her deceased father.

"Yeah, everyone knew Pete. Why?" Derek frowned.

"It's just…he never mentioned you. I thought he might have, that's all" She shrugged.

"Wait, John sent him back to?" Derek realised.

"To stop a Terminator that was coming to kill him when he was five" Kat informed him.

"And you knew him?" Derek pressed.

"He's how I got involved in all this. I was in the wrong place, wrong time. Almost got killed by the damn machine…but he saved me. And together we killed the it before it even got close to John…but I knew too much by then" Kat explained.

"He took you in?" Derek raised, an eyebrow.

"He didn't need to. I mean, no one would ever have believed what I had seen. I guess he saw something in me" She shrugged, fondly.

"I could never see Pete with a kid" Derek scoffed, remembering the tough military man.

"He was a little unorthodox that's for sure…but clearly I turned out amazing, so he must have done something right" Kat grinned.

They could hear as John slammed the door in his room upstairs and turned up his music to the loudest volume.

"Can you talk to him?" Kat queried.

"Why would he want to talk to me?" Derek inquired, probing for something.

"Because…maybe he doesn't want to talk to someone who he see's as his big sister" She suggested, almost slipping up about the real reason for a moment.

"Okay. But I can't promise anything" Derek stated, as she nodded.

Kat couldn't help but eavesdrop on the pair's conversation later that evening and wasn't surprised that Derek was able to get more information out of him. He made it seem like Sarah wanted to give him up at some point, something that Kat found hard to believe, but he obviously didn't want to outright say it. She almost felt a little hurt that John couldn't talk to her about it, but she could understand that he might find it easier confiding in his Uncle. Kat couldn't help but frown at that word. She had taken on the stereotypical roles in the family, a sister to John, and she saw Sarah in a motherly light. However, she was certain she would never see Derek in that way. Maybe a friend.

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter should be up within a few days. I'll slowly be revealing more about Kat's backstory throughout the upcoming chapters, and we'll be finding out more about what Derek knows about her. Please leave a review:)

fastandloud: Thank you so much for these reviews! I'm glad you think Derek seems canon in this story and that you're enjoying my story content:)

Teminalex: Thanks for the review! Derek's definitely my favourite character in the show:)


	6. Lies

"What are you doing?" Kat frowned, when she saw Derek searching through Cameron's room a week later.

"Looking for something that is going to prove to you that the machine has to go" Derek replied, as he rifled through her room.

"Are you really that jealous that she gets a room to herself?" Kat suggested, a small grin on her face.

"It would be nice to have a bed…but no, this is about proving that it can't be trusted" Derek informed her.

"You're not going to find anything" Kat insisted, as she saw Derek flip over one of the drawers.

"You were saying?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow at what he saw.

"Is that…a chip?" Kat gasped, as Derek removed the tape surrounding the device.

"This is one of those classic 'I told you so' moments" He grinned, repeating her words from the week before.

They both marched into the kitchen, as Derek placed the terminator chip on a plate on the counter. Everyone was silent for a moment, shocked by what they saw.

"Where'd you get this?" Sarah was the first to question.

"Her room" Derek answered, as John rushed over to the counter.

"Why were you in my room?" Cameron queried.

"Why did you lie?" Kat retorted.

"You told me you destroyed everything" Sarah pointed out.

"The chip contains visual records of the T-triple 8, where it's been, who it's interacted with. It carries important information" Cameron explained.

"It's a brain. It's the only truly irreplaceable part of the machine and she kept it. Next she's going to tell us that somehow that's going to help us find the Turk" Derek suggested, anger clear in his voice.

"It won't help us find the Turk" Cameron stated, as Derek had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

"What are you saying?" John asked.

"What I'm saying is what I've been saying, John. She can't be trusted. No matter how she acts on the outside, we have no idea what's going on in there" Derek went on.

"Well, I could say that about you" John pointed out.

"Okay, let's not fight amongst ourselves. We already have enough enemies without creating them between ourselves" Kat interjected, standing in between John and Derek.

"Who showed you to my safe house? She did. Who else knew about it? Nobody. Where are my men? In the morgue" Derek theorised, as Kat had to admit he had some good points.

"I didn't give the triple-8 the safe house location" Cameron insisted, shaking her head.

"Prove it" Derek suggested, as Cameron glared at him.

"Have you ever hacked one of those? Have you ever read what's on it?" John questioned.

"No. But you have" Cameron told him.

"Alright then…let's do this" John announced, as he left the room, most likely to call one of his contacts.

"You'll see…I'm telling the truth" Derek mumbled to Kat, who was confused as to why her opinion mattered so much to him.

"Cameron, wait…" Kat trailed off, as she stopped the machine from leaving the room.

"You've explained why you did it, but I don't understand why you'd lie" Kat began.

"I expected you wouldn't like the idea of keeping it" Cameron replied.

"Is it hard for you? To kill another Terminator?" Kat inquired.

"No…I'm indifferent to it" Cameron gave a small shrug.

Kat didn't fully believe that, but she decided not to press the matter any further. What she was more concerned about was how easy it seemed for Cameron to lie.

"Do you lie to us a lot?" Kat couldn't help but ask.

"When the mission requires it" Cameron stated.

"You shouldn't lie to us…its just going to cause more arguments like this one" Kat suggested, as Cameron seemed to ponder on this for a moment.

"I thought you would understand the importance of lies. You asked Derek to lie about your impending death to John…and I have kept it a secret from him. Is that wrong?" Cameron queried.

"Jesus, not so loud! Look, I see your point but…well, okay you've got me there" Kat sighed, as Cameron gave her a triumphant look.

"Little tip though, talking about someone's death in the future is a bit of a touchy subject" Kat pointed out.

"Why?" Cameron frowned.

"Well, no one likes to think about their own death. None of us really knows what happens when we die" Kat explained.

"It is likely that everything simply stops, just like when machines are terminated. The likelihood of an afterlife is-" Cameron started, but she cut her off.

"Right, right. Can you see why it could upset someone to think about being terminated?" Kat queried.

"Death is natural. Everyone dies" Cameron responded, as Kat groaned.

"Just…don't talk about death anymore, alright? Especially not at school" Kat insisted.

* * *

John was soon able to hack into the chip and to everyone's surprise they found out that 'Vick', the name the Terminator had been using, had a wife. It didn't take long for them to find an address, which Sarah and Derek were going to investigate into.

"We've got a problem" Sarah announced.

"What?" John frowned, as he was packing up his school bag.

"Agent Ellison is asking questions, looking into me more and people are going to start to notice. I need to find a way to stop him" Sarah explained.

"You mean kill him?" John theorised.

"He's a smart man. I'm hoping if I can talk to him, make him understand, he'll stop" Sarah replied.

"You're really willing to put your trust in a stranger?" Derek inquired.

"I don't see what other choice we have" Sarah shrugged.

"We could kill him" Cameron insisted, as everyone in the room gave her a look.

"Are you going to be up to scouting out the address on your own?" Sarah questioned Derek.

"I'll be fine" Derek dismissed, as he began to pack his bag.

"I can come too…you're not healed enough yet" Kat pointed out.

"Are you sure? You've already missed one day of school recently" Sarah argued.

"It will stand out more if an eighteen-year-old doesn't bunk off school sometimes" Kat retorted.

"Statistics show that sixteen to eighteen-year olds are absent from school for 15% of the year" Cameron added, as Kat gave her a grateful smile.

"Alright but be careful. Don't take any stupid risks-" Sarah started, but Kat cut he off.

"Yes, yes. I know. I've got this" She insisted, pulling one of the bags Derek had packed onto her shoulder, and walking off to the jeep.

"Look after her" Sarah told Derek.

"I will" He promised, with a nod.

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I love the little conversations between Kat and Cam, as it can put things in a different view point. We've got some Derek/Kat coming up next chapter. I'd love some more reviews:)

fastandloud: Thank you for the reviews! We will see the EMP come into use quite soon. The tension between Derek and Cameron is going to get more and more intense, so that will be fun, haha.


	7. Vick's Chip

"Who taught you to pick locks?" Derek questioned, as Kat crouched down and began to unpick Vick's door.

"John" She replied, as Derek nodded.

"Same here" He admitted, as the door clicked open.

"Were you and John close in the future?" She inquired.

"I was apart of his inner circle, I guess" Derek shrugged, as Kat went to open the door.

"Uh-uh. I'm going in first" Derek told her, taking his gun out of the waistband of his trousers.

"The Terminator's dead, and she probably is too. What's their to worry about?" She pointed out.

"No stupid risks, remember?" Derek replied, as he opened the door and began to walk through the narrow corridor.

"She hasn't been home for a long time" Kat sighed, noticing the mail on the floor.

"He had her completely fooled" Derek stated, looking at a picture of her and Vick smiling on the wall.

"It must be hard to pull off. I mean I'm amazed no one at school has realised how off Cameron is…but to actually live with a machine and not realise…" Kat trailed off, a small shiver running through her body.

"You'd think you'd know?" Derek questioned, as they came into the main room.

"I'd know something was wrong. But if you love someone enough…I think there's a lot you're willing to look over" Kat mumbled, causing Derek to frown.

"You talking from experience?" He inquired.

"Maybe…hey, look. There's a name. Barbara Chamberlain. City Manager, Los Angeles" Kat read out, as she picked up some files.

"Computer's gone. It must have been covering his tracks" Derek suggested.

"Why would a machine have been so interested in this woman?" Kat wondered aloud.

"City manager is infrastructure. Might be something to do with the Turk" Derek went on.

"So she was killed because of her job" Kat said, a sad look on her face.

* * *

It was a strange feeling not having Sarah around, she had been on constant in Kat's life for a long time. She knew Sarah could handle herself, but she couldn't help but worry. John on the other hand didn't seem to be missing his mum too much, which Kat expected was because she was suffocating him recently by being more protective than ever.

"You've been doing that for over twenty minutes" Kat pointed out, as she washed Derek brush his teeth.

He just shrugged in response, as she threw something at him, which he quickly caught with his fast reflexes.

"Thanks" He mumbled, as he saw she had bought him his own toothbrush.

"She'll know you've been using her brush" Kat told him.

"She'll get over it" He stated.

"You're a brave man, Derek" Kat laughed, as they shared a knowing look.

"Hey, guys!" They heard John shout from the other room.

"So I figured out that they don't store memories the way we do. They store them by categories. Like, mission or location or whatever" John announced.

"How did you figure that out?" Kat frowned.

"Remember those weird robot symbols? I still don't know how to read them. But the exact same one kept popping up every time a clip of Barbara was playing" John explained.

"Huh…that's smart thinking" Kat praised, as a grin grew on John's face.

"You should look at this" John suggested, the grin quickly dying.

He showed them a small clip of a woman being chased by Vick, and then thrown feet into the air, falling with a sickening thud. It looked like Barbara.

"There's no way she'd survive that" Kat sighed.

"It gained her trust. Made her think it was human. Then killed her. That's what they do" Derek accused, giving Cameron a cold look.

"All machines have a different mission. That was his" Kat clarified.

"I'll grab the flashlights. We need to find her" John suggested, as Kat nodded.

"Finding Barbara's body should not be a mission priority" Cameron frowned.

"We can't leave her out there. She's a person" Kat insisted.

"She was a person. Now she's dead. Bones and meat" Cameron retorted.

"Well how would you like it if you got terminated and we just threw you on a rubbish heap?" Kat went on.

"That would be unwise, the technology would-" Cameron started, but Derek cut her off.

"There's no point. She'll never understand" Derek shook his head and left the room.

"Okay look, say if you were human and we just left your body out there somewhere, it would mean that no one cared about you. That you were just left alone to…rot. Doesn't that mean something to you?" Kat continued.

"I wouldn't be aware of it" Cameron pointed out.

"Ugh, you know what…this is useless" Kat groaned, and began to walk away.

"Does this upset you because you fear that your body will be left to rot when you die soon?" Cameron questioned, stopping her in her tracks.

"…Jesus, that is…you really need to start thinking before you speak" Kat told her, rushing out of the room, biting her lip to stop herself from crying.

She hadn't realised but Derek had heard every word of this, his fists clenched, using everything he had to stop himself from going into the room and pulling the machine apart with his bare hands.

* * *

With Cameron's advanced brain they were soon able to figure out the forest the body had been dumped in and began scouting out the area. Cameron and John paired off and went ahead, as Derek kept his eyes on them at all time, his gaze never leaving the machine.

"You know if it wasn't for her we'd probably never find this place" Kat stated.

"We could have left her at the house" Derek suggested.

"She can use thermal imaging, we'll find the body faster this way" Kat pointed out.

"Why are you defending her so much?" Derek inquired, coming to a halt.

"I guess I'm trying to convince myself that it's the right thing having her around" Kat admitted.

"You don't like having her here?" Derek asked, surprised.

"It's not that but…I guess she makes me feel useless. I was supposed to be the one to protect John, and then she came around and I became…obsolete" She shrugged.

"I'd pick you over a machine any day" Derek exclaimed.

"Coming from you…that's extremely low praises" Kat chuckled.

"I'd pick you over anyone" Derek confessed, making Kat frown.

Before she could say anything, they heard John whistle and rushed over to find a dead body beside a tree trunk. Derek crouched down beside the body and flipped it over, as a pale face with blue dead eyes came into view. Kat grimaced at the sight, not used to seeing a body that had been dead for so long.

"That's not Barbara" John realised, as Derek pulled out the woman's wallet.

"Who the hell is Jessica Peck?" Derek inquired.

"A threat to Skynet" Cameron informed them.

"Maybe Barbara is still alive…" Kat trailed off.

"I wouldn't count on it" Derek pointed out.

"Let's get to work. We need to bury her" John stated, as he turned back towards the car.

Kat crouched down beside Derek and firmly shut the woman's rigid eyelids, shivering at the feel of her cold skin under her hand.

"Are you cold?" Derek questioned, as Kat shrugged.

"A little" She mumbled, as they stood up together.

Derek then took off his jacket and placed it over Kat's shoulders, who gave him a grateful smile and pulled it closer over her. Cameron frowned as she watched this, confused as to why Derek gave her the jacket when it was his only one. John quickly returned with four shovels and began to hand them out.

"Do you want my jacket?" Cameron inquired, as she undid the zipper.

"Uh…no. I'm good" John frowned, as Cameron tilted her head.

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It's a little longer because I took a bit longer to upload. I decided for Sarah not be in this episode much, and see how the characters act a little differently e.g John taking a more leadership role and Kat and Derek getting closer. Please leave a review:)

fastandloud: Thank you for the review! I'm really enjoying their conversations, and it'll be interesting to see if they can develop a proper friendship.


	8. Arguements

**A/N:** I hope you will all enjoy this chapter! I've decided to give this story another go, so please if you want to see more leave a review:)

* * *

They soon figured out the reason that Skynet was so interested in Barbara Chamberlain was because she was designing a program that would link all the traffic cameras to a data centre in City Hall. The machines would be able to know where everyone was, always. Kat and Derek decided to scout out the location and see if there were any weaknesses in the defence.

"There's no way we're going to get through all that security" Kat stated, after they had sat down at a café across the street.

"Don't worry, we won't be going through the front door. These buildings are all connected by a series of underground tunnels during the Cold War. I did a project on them in the 9th grade…my last year of school" Derek explained.

"I'm sorry" Kat mumbled.

"For what?" Derek frowned.

"Your childhood got cut short…you never had the time to grow up" She pointed out.

"There's never any time" Derek sighed.

"When did you learn all about this?" Derek asked.

"I was eight…I guess being that young actually made everything easy to believe. The machines, the end of the world…in my eight-year-old head it didn't seem farfetched" She told him.

"That's when you met Pete?" Derek guessed, as she nodded.

"Growing up with him must have been…different" Derek went on.

"Things were simple when I was with my dad. Protect John and Sarah Connor. That's all there was to my life. They never really seemed like people…more like Gods I guess" She chuckled.

"When did you meet them?" Derek questioned.

"Near my sixteenth birthday. My dad had finally contacted them a few months earlier, and I got so desperate to finally meet the legends in the flesh…He was pretty mad at me, it was stupid" She sighed.

"How mad?" Derek couldn't help but ask.

"How'd do you know the tunnels are still going to be there?" Kat inquired, clearly wanting to change the subject.

"I lived there. Kyle and I. After they dropped the bombs on us" Derek admitted, shocking Kat.

"…That must have been awful" She frowned, not really knowing what to say.

"We were alive" Derek shrugged.

* * *

Once they got back, John quickly informed them that he had found the footage of how the Terminator had found out about Derek's group. He had simply spotted that Barbara was being followed. Cameron had no part in it. John was reluctant to show Derek the violent scenes of his friends being killed, but the older man insisted on it. Kat grimaced as the Terminator crouched down beside the man he had just killed, clearly so unaffected by it.

"Sayles was always, uh…I loved him, but he was an idiot sometimes. He was careless" Derek sniffed, seeming close to tears.

Kat wanted to comfort him in some way, but she knew he wasn't the type of man who would appreciate that.

"So, you were following Barbara Chamberlain too?" John inquired.

"No. I didn't know he was. There were a lot of leads. We spent a lot of time on our own…I didn't know" Derek mumbled, as he got up and left the room, not looking at Cameron as he walked past her.

"It's okay to be upset you know" Kat stated, when she followed Derek to the living room where he was packing a bag.

"I'm not going to breakdown if that's what your worried about" Derek responded.

"I'm worried at **you** " She said, emphasising the word.

"I'm fine" Derek insisted.

"It's not good to bottle things up-" She began, but he cut her off.

"Just like you're not bottling things up about Pete? Why don't you want to talk about him, huh?" Derek challenged.

Kat opened her mouth to argue, but the words died in her mouth. She turned on her heel and left, angry that Derek had been there for such a short time and already seemed to be putting things together.

"Are you sure you shouldn't wait for mum?" John suggested, an hour later, as Kat and Derek were ready to sneak back into City Hall.

"We have no idea when she's coming back" Kat pointed out.

"This is dangerous, Kat" John went on.

"Our whole life is dangerous" Kat rolled her eyes.

"They'll have guns" John stated.

"I'll be careful. Don't worry your little head about it" Kat mocked, ruffling his hair, and walking over to Derek who was packing the car.

"You're not coming" Derek told her.

"Like hell I'm not" Kat scoffed, throwing her bags in the back.

"I told Sarah I'd keep you safe" Derek insisted.

"I don't need your protection" Kat scoffed, as she got into the car and waved goodbye to John and Cameron.

* * *

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Kat asked, as they wandered down the tunnels.

"Well I should. This is where I lost Kyle to the machines when we were kids" Derek admitted, looking at the spot with sad eyes.

"And being down here doesn't effect you at all?" Kat questioned.

"We need to keep moving this way. There's an elevator shaft" Derek exclaimed, turning left.

"So, are you just going to ignore me now?" Kat went on, as Derek came to a halt.

"There shouldn't be a wall here. In the future there's no wall" Derek announced.

"It must have already been destroyed" Kat suggested, as she touched the wall.

"We're gonna have to blow it up" Derek replied, taking out two explosive devices.

"You're kidding, right?" Kat asked, with wide eyes, as Derek placed them both on the wall.

"C'mon" He said, pulling her around the corner.

Before she could say anything else, he twisted them around so that her back was to his chest and placed his hands over her ears. A moment later there was a massive explosion which sent debris flying everywhere as Kat flinched. After a few more seconds the sound began to die down and Derek took his hands away from her head and looked around the corner to check that the tunnel was still stable.

"You enjoyed that a little, didn't you?" Kat suggested, seeing Derek's exhilarated face.

"Only a little" He shrugged, with a small smirk.

"Alright, so what next?" Kat inquired, as they looked through the crater they had created.

"Now we abseil" Derek responded, as he threw two ropes down with weights at the bottom.

"…Your kind of crazy, has anyone ever told you that?" Kat teased, as Derek let out an amused sound.

"You said you were up to this" Derek pointed out, handing her a belt that she could attach to the rope.

"…I am. But you can go first" Kat replied.

Soon Derek had attached his own belt to the rope and was getting ready to climb down when he saw Kat was having trouble just connecting her belt. There were so many clips that needed to get attached into the right place. He walked over to her and undid everything she had started, pulling her closer to him to do so. Kat quickly became aware of just how close they were as she could feel his breath across her shoulder and shivered lightly. He was done in a matter of seconds, and soon they were both abseiling down, which Kat found she enjoyed more than she expected.

"That was awesome" She grinned, as this time she was able to undo the clips by herself.

"You did pretty good…for a beginner" Derek told her, a teasing tone in his voice.

"Yeah, well we can't all be James Bond" She retorted, with a smirk.


	9. Trust

From then on, the plan went completely wrong. The computer was able to block John's virus and sound the alarms. Two security guards were quickly on their tail, as they climbed the ladder back to the tunnels as quickly as their legs would allow them. Once they came to a small hole in the wall, Derek stopped and began ushering Kat to hide.

"I'll get them past here, then you sneak up on them" Derek advised, as she shimmied into the hole.

"But-" Kat began, as he cut her off.

"You can do this" He told her, as he began running off again.

The guards didn't seem to question why they only caught up with Derek, and pushed him to the ground, aiming their guns at his head. Taking a deep breath, Kat snuck up behind the nearest one and punched him in between his shoulder blades. She then twisted his arm to make sure he dropped his gun and then hit him in the face, as he fell to the floor. The other guard raised his gun towards her, but she managed to twist around so that her back was against his chest and held his arm out away from her. She then elbowed the man hard in the face, knocking him out cold. Derek immediately picked up the guard's gun and aimed it towards the other man, about to shoot.

"Derek, no!" She shouted, as she shoved his arm to the ground.

"He saw our faces" Derek pointed out.

"So, he deserves to die because of that?" Kat argued.

"If we let him live he could identify us" Derek exclaimed.

"If we kill him we're no better than the machines" Kat stated, as Derek almost flinched at the statement.

"Let's just go" Kat insisted, as Derek nodded, and they began to run.

* * *

John and Cameron had quickly devised a new plan to get the virus into the system, but it was a dangerous plan.

"So, explain this to me again?" Kat asked, as Cameron went to lie on the bed.

"Cameron's chip is the most sophisticated learning computer on earth, if we can get her into the A.R.T.I.E system, then she can take it down" John explained.

"And she can get in through a traffic light?" Kat questioned.

"Theoretically, yes" Cameron answered.

"So, this might not work at all?" Kat suggested, as John set out his tools.

"It will work. It has to" John retorted, as he picked up a scalpel.

"Start the incision. Push harder, down to my endoskeleton" Cameron advised, as John began to cut into her scalp.

"Kat, once she's in the city's mainframe, What's to say she'll come back out? You know, maybe…maybe it's not the turk that created Skynet. Maybe it's her. Maybe this was her plan all along" Derek whispered, leaning down near Kat's ear.

She knew he had a good point, it was a risky plan, but it was the only one they had. Kat turned to look at Derek, about to give her answer, when John interrupted her.

"She's a machine. She doesn't have a soul and she never will. You don't have to trust her. You can trust me" John announced, overhearing him.

"I do. The question is…do you, Derek?" Kat argued, giving him a look.

"Just don't blame me if this all goes wrong" Derek mumbled, as John pulled back the skin ontop of Cameron's head.

"Good. Set the pliers over the shielded tab on the end of the chip. A half turn counter-clockwise and pull it out" Cameron instructed John, who placed the pliers where he was told.

"It's okay, John. It's not the first time we've done this" Cameron tried to reassure him, in an all too human gesture.

"I…I can't do it" John shook his head, putting the pliers down.

"It's okay. I'll do it" Kat offered, walking to the other side of the bed and placing her hand on John's shoulder.

"I'll see you in a few hours" Kat told the machine, as she picked up the pliers.

She stared into Cameron's brown eyes, as she twisted the chip out of position, and all the tension from Cameron's face disappeared. It was like she was dead. Kat had to remind herself that she was never alive in the first place.

"Let's hope this works" Kat said, biting her lip, as she held Cameron's chip in the pliers.

* * *

Derek's head whipped around quickly, as he looked out to make sure no one had noticed what they were doing. John was on the ground, having connected his laptop to the traffic lights beside him, as he continued to type.

"Hey, on your 3'oclock, there's a camera. Don't look at it" Kat advised Derek, who was leaning against the traffic light, shielding John from view.

"Did Pete teach you how to look out for them?" Derek guessed, as she nodded.

"Okay, she's in" John announced.

"How long?" Derek inquired.

"15 seconds…20, maybe. For what it's worth, I believe you. I don't think you knew your guy was watching Barbara" John informed him, as Derek gave him a quizzical look.

"Thanks" Derek replied, as they shared a nod.

"Okay, it's done" John exclaimed, when she saw the red flashing lights all over his screen.

Before he could say anything else, Derek had crouched down and had grabbed Cameron's chip from the dock in the laptop. John was on his feet in seconds, clearly ready to fight Derek to get it back.

"Hey, hey. What are you doing?" John asked.

"Don't do it, Derek" Kat insisted, knowing that he was desperate to smash the chip.

"I want you to hear this in no uncertain terms. Someday one of these things is going to kill you" Derek warned him.

"It's not going to be that one" John retorted, as he tried to grab the chip.

"This is the only time that we're going to be able to destroy this thing" Derek stated.

"You still don't trust me, do you?" John realised, as Derek sighed.

"Then trust me, Derek. If we need to, I'll put her down" Kat offered, going to stand in between the men.

Derek then took her hand in his, and placed the chip in her palm, closing her fingers around the device.

"Don't make me regret this" Derek mumbled, one of his hands still covering her own.

John frowned as he began to pack up his laptop and wondered why Kat seemed to have Derek's trust. Just how well did they know each other in the future, he thought to himself.

* * *

Kat decided to give John some privacy when he re-installed Cameron's chip, knowing that he had started to care about the machine. She didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. She was wandering back to her room when she overheard a conversation in the bathroom, and came to a halt.

"Sarkissian returned my call. He'll meet about selling the turk" She heard Sarah announce, who had returned home a few hours earlier.

"He's still got it? When's the meeting?" Derek replied, the water from the shower still running.

"Tomorrow morning" Sarah replied.

"Meaning this news could have waited?" Derek suggested.

"You killed Andy Goode…There was no one there to protect him, and you killed him. You lie to me again, I'll kill you" Sarah threatened, before storming out of the bathroom, almost bumping into Kat.

They shared a look for a moment, before Sarah shuffled sideways and walked away. Confusion etched on her face, Kat heard the shower being turned off and entered the bathroom.

"Why did you do it?" Kat frowned, as Derek had just placed a towel over his hips.

"He was a threat" Derek responded, like it was obvious.

"So you just kill him? Like it's nothing?" Kat insisted.

"You barely even knew the guy" Derek retorted.

"He was a person, Derek. He had a future and you took that away" Kat went on, taking a step forward.

"And now maybe you'll have a future instead" Derek retorted, looking her straight in the eye.

The words Kat was about to say died in her throat, as she looked away from his intense gaze. She suddenly realised that he was only wearing a towel, that was riding dangerously low on his hips, and could feel herself begin to blush. Feeling like she was coming out of a daze, she shook her head, and stormed out of the bathroom.

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I love this show and this story, and really want to continue writing it, so please can I have some feedback?:)


	10. The Importance of Life

"Remind me again. Why are the boys out here and the girls in there?" Derek questioned, as they waited in the car, while Sarah and Cameron went to make a deal for the Turk.

"I'm a girl too, remember" Kat pointed out, leaning forward in the backseat.

"I never noticed" John joked, as Kat slapped him round the back of the head.

"It's a good point though, I could have gone in" Kat stated, her arms resting on the backs of their seats.

"Too dangerous. They might need a quick getaway. Besides, one of the boys is still wanted for murder, and one of the girls is...harder than nuclear nails" John explained.

"And the other one's a cyborg" Derek joked, as John and Kat let out a laugh.

"Who knew being funny was in your skill set, Derek?" Kat egged him on, so close to him that he could feel her breath on his neck.

John could tell how uncomfortable Derek was at the closeness of Kat and realised that the problem could have been that he liked it too much. He refused to turn around to face her, and John could tell this was starting to irritate the younger girl.

"You wanna know why we're really here? Moore's law" John announced, wanting to break the tension in the car.

"Huh?" Derek frowned, as Kat went back to sitting in the backseat.

"Moore's law. The guy who founded Intel said that every two years, the number of transistors on a computer chip doubles. 30 years ago, it was an observation. Now it's a law. Tech industry spent billions doubling chip power" John went on.

"And?" Kat asked, confused at what he was getting at.

"And that's how we can go from a chess computer to the apocalypse in just four years. I learned that a lot can happen in four years" John sighed, leaning back against his chair.

"A lot can happen in four seconds. One minute, I'm in the yard with my brother, playing baseball, and the next, we look up, and the sky's on fire" Derek announced, surprising Kat.

Derek was always so closed off about his past. She couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to open up after what she had found out he had done. If he was trying to show her, he was still human.

"Judgment day…What'd you do?" John queried.

"The only thing to do: Took Kyle and went underground" Derek responded.

"What was he like?" John inquired, desperate for any information on his father.

"He was just a kid when it happened. Eight years old. I was 15. How do you tell an eight-year-old machines have taken over the world?" Derek asked, as Kat could swear, she saw the beginnings of tears in his eyes.

"How do you?" John inquired.

"You don't" Derek told him.

Derek watched Kat in the rear-view mirror and realised for the first time that she had been the same age as his brother when she found out about the machines. However, Pete hadn't sugar-coated it for her. She had been thrown into the life of war and death when she was just a child.

"You must have been the same age when Pete found you, weren't you?" John questioned, his thoughts paralleling Derek's.

"Yeah…" Kat trailed off, her arm up on the window of the car, her eyes not meeting his gaze.

"You must have been terrified" John suggested.

"I adapted" Kat shrugged.

"Just like that? With a click of your fingers?" Derek inquired, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Kat didn't reply this time, opting to gaze out of the window. This concerned John enough that he turned around, so he could face her properly.

"You never talk much about when you were younger" John pointed out.

"That's because there's not much to talk about. I went to school like everyone else, I just…got some training on the side" Kat replied.

"You never got to be a kid…because of me" John sighed, turning back around.

"Hey, I chose this life, okay? I could have left once Pete died. But I didn't. Because I believe in you, John…Besides, my life isn't important" Kat explained, as Derek scoffed.

Before he could say anything, the girls returned to the car with news. Sarkissian was willing to give them the Turk…for $500,000. Kat didn't like the sound of the meeting place, it seemed to out in the open. Almost like Sarkissian wanted them to get caught.

* * *

Later that day, Sarah, Derek and Kat were contemplating their next move when there was an urgent knock at the door. Sarah and Derek instantly pulled out their guns, making Kat feel somewhat defenceless. Sarah pulled the door open to find Charley standing there, much to everyone's relief.

"What are you doing here?" Sarah inquired.

"I need to talk to you" Charley stated, as Sarah went to slam the door in his face.

"Go home" She replied, but he raised his arm out to stop her.

Charley shared a quick glance with Kat, who could tell it was her cue to leave. She turned around to usher a reluctant Derek along, and went to reach for his hand to drag him away. She stopped herself at the last moment, the gesture feeling far too intimate. Instead she simply made a gesture for him to go, as they left the room.

"So, what was that about earlier?" Derek questioned, before they got far.

"What do you mean?" Kat frowned.

"My life isn't important, ring any bells?" Derek suggested, as Kat rolled her eyes.

"That's because it's not-" Kat tried to clarify, as Derek cut her off.

"Bullshit. Your life is just as important as anyone else's. More so" Derek told her.

"Really? Even compared to John Connor's?" Kat scoffed.

"…Yes" Derek replied, after a moment, shocking Kat.

"And why the hell is my life so important to you, Derek?" Kat snapped, a strange anger washing over her.

"Because it has to be to someone" Derek stated, as Kat's eyes widened at the meaning.

"…John and Sarah care about me. We're like family" Kat insisted.

"Yet they'd both throw you under the bus if it meant saving John" Derek pointed out.

"They wouldn't have to…because I'd do it myself" Kat replied.

* * *

Early the next morning, Cameron was inspecting their diamonds, to see if they had enough money to buy the Turk. However, Derek was making his opinion very clear, not liking the plan at all. Even though Kat was still upset after what he had said yesterday, she couldn't help but agree with him.

"We can't just hand over all our money! It's not even enough for the deal" Derek exclaimed.

"We'll negotiate" Cameron retorted.

"I don't think these are the type of guys who negotiate" Kat reasoned.

"Finally, the voice of reason!" Derek said, gesturing towards Kat.

"Look, we don't have a choice. And that's final" Sarah insisted, as Derek scoffed and left the room.

Kat was about to follow him when Sarah called her over towards the other side of the room.

"You really think this is a bad idea? Or is it just because Derek says it is?" Sarah queried, once John and Cameron were out of hearing range.

"I have my own mind, Sarah. I can come up with my own opinions" Kat rolled her eyes.

"You two seem to have got closer while I was gone" Sarah pointed out.

"He's John's Uncle, isn't it a good thing if we get along?" Kat stated.

"Maybe a little too well" Sarah suggested, as Kat scoffed.

"I'm going to school. Come on John, we don't want them to leave for the museum without us" Kat announced, picking up her bag, with John scrambling to keep up with her.

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I really like writing this story but I'm desperate for some feedback now to motivate me along, so please leave a review?:)


	11. Shoot Out

Derek was all but ready to put a bullet into the man they believed to be Sarkissian when he informed them that 'his people' were watching Sarah's kids. He told them that if he didn't get $2 million, then the FBI would be contacted, and the kids would be killed. Derek's fingers itched on the trigger, he wanted nothing more than to kill the man for even threatening them. Sarah couldn't help but notice the change in Derek's demeanour the moment they were brought up.

"How long do we have to get you the money?" Derek queried, lowering his gun.

"You've got twenty-four hours" Sarkissian replied, as she shoved past Derek.

"Follow him" Sarah ordered, surprised when Derek made no move to follow him.

"No, you follow him. I'm going to the museum" Derek stated, placing the gun back into the waistband of his jeans.

"Is that a tactical decision or personal?" Sarah asked, raising her eyebrow.

"I can spot and deal with whoever is following them better than you can and we both know it" Derek retorted.

"…Keep my son safe" Sarah insisted, as Derek nodded.

* * *

"So, how does it feel? Being on the eve of your sweet sixteen?" Kat grinned, swinging her arm over John's shoulder as they walked with their group through the museum.

"It would feel better if my mum had actually remembered" John mumbled.

"Of course, she remembers. You're her son" Kat pointed out.

"Has she mentioned it to you?" John inquired.

"…No. But that doesn't mean she forgot!" Kat exclaimed as John shoved her off his shoulders.

"Who forgot what?" Cameron frowned, approaching the pair.

"John thinks his mum has forgotten his birthday" Kat informed her.

"Birthday?" Cameron frowned.

"As in the day you were born. Like mine is 4th September" Kat clarified.

"Pretty memorable for a mother, right?" John scoffed.

"But it was sixteen years ago" Cameron retorted.

"No, a birthday is like a holiday. It's like once a year, every year, people just kind of…celebrate you, I guess. You get presents and you eat cake. It's fun" John explained.

"Would you like it if I got you a cake?" Cameron suggested as John rolled his eyes, as the machine clearly didn't understand, and walked away.

"…I'd like it if you got a cake," Kat told her, as Cameron titled her head.

"I do not understand why he is upset" Cameron stated.

"Celebrating someone's birthday shows you care. For your mum not to remember it…well, that just plain sucks" Kat went on, as Cameron nodded, but still seemed lost at the concept.

"Hey, do you know Derek's birthday?" Kat couldn't help but ask.

"Yes. It is December 24th" Cameron informed her.

"Oh, so he's a Christmas Eve baby…that explains why he's so grouchy" Kat laughed at her own joke.

As if on cue, Kat was surprised as she noticed the very same man walking over to them, his eyes darting around the large room. She noticed his shoulders seemed to sag in relief when he spotted her and quickened his pace.

"Speak of the devil" Kat grinned, as he approached the pair.

"You're being followed by Sarkissian's men. Go get John, meet us in the car in five minutes" Derek informed them, ordering Cameron.

The machine quickly found John admiring a large dinosaur skeleton on the other side of the hall and began to march over to him. Kat was about to follow her when Derek moved so he was in her way, a serious look on his face.

"We don't have time. We need to go. Now" He insisted.

"We can't just leave John!" Kat exclaimed, in disbelief.

Before she could say anything else, Derek had taken her hand in his, surprising them both. He expected her to continue arguing, or rip her hand away, but instead, it seemed to have a calming effect on her. Derek began to lead her away from the hall, finding her unusually compliant. He saw her look over her shoulders a few times, spotting John and Cameron making their way to one of the other exits. Almost involuntarily, he found himself rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand, in a reassuring gesture. Somehow Cameron and John were the first ones to the car, most likely Cameron had found a quicker and easier exit. John audibly sighed in relief when he saw them but started to frown when he noticed how their hands were intertwined. The moment Derek recognised this, he pulled away, not looking at John as he made his way to the driver's seat.

* * *

Things were quickly coming to a head, and they all knew that it was time for fight or flight. They were tired of running. As they piled into the internet café that they knew Sarkissian was involved with, Kat couldn't help but be nervous. They were in his territory, not theirs.

"Where is he?" Derek questioned, approaching the front desk.

"Who?" The man behind the counter asked.

Obviously getting annoyed at this stupid display, Sarah grabbed the man by the back of his neck and slammed his head down onto the counter. The humans in the group couldn't keep the smug smirks off their faces at the action.

"Need I repeat?" Sarah inquired, as the man timidly pointed to the back door.

They all but ran into Sarkissian not far into the corridor, who ran in the other direction when he spotted them. He managed to lock himself in some sort of safe room, as Sarah slammed on the door.

"John, go check the office. See if he stashed the Turk in there" Sarah advised, as John nodded.

"I'll go with him" Kat exclaimed, running after him.

The pair began to ransack the office, throwing papers and boxes everywhere, but there was no sign of the Turk. John spotted an adjoined room in the office and burst in, only to find a smiling little girl.

"Hi…what are you doing here?" John announced as the girl took out her headphones.

"Waiting for my dad to finish his work" The girl replied.

"Right, listen. I need you to stay in this room with the door closed. Even if you hear loud noises or you get scared, you need to stay in here. Can you do that for me?" John asked.

"Yeah" The small girl answered, trustingly.

However, when there was a loud bang from behind them, he saw how the little girl flinched and didn't trust that she would listen to him. He ushered Kat in, hoping she would be able to reassure the girl more.

"Have you ever played hide and seek?" Kat queried, stooping down to the girl's level.

"Yes! It's my favourite game" She giggled.

"Okay, well I need you to play that now. My friends and I are the seeker's and you have to stay as quiet as you can, so we don't find you. Sound like a deal?" Kat went on, as the girl nodded enthusiastically.

Giving her another small smile, she stood up and closed the door behind her, praying that the little girl wouldn't get involved. The last thing she wanted was a child's blood on her hands.

"Let go of me!" She heard John hiss from the hallway.

Instantly, she ran to the wall closest to the door and peaked down the corridor. She had to stifle a gasp when she saw Sarkissian had someone managed to capture John and was pointing a gun at his head. Without a moment's thought, when they passed the doorway, Kat sprang into action. She grabbed Sarkissian's hand and was able to bend a few of his fingers backwards, hearing a satisfying snap. This led to him dropping his gun, but he still used his injured hand to hit Kat in the face, throwing her off balance. John quickly pulled himself free of the man's grasp, who cried out in pain. However, Sarkissian rushed to pick up his gun, and now had it trained on Kat's head, a pissed expression on his face.

"You really shouldn't have done that" He growled.

Soon enough Kat found herself being dragged out into an alleyway, with the weight feel of a gun pressed to her neck. She could hear footsteps running behind her, as Sarkissian whipped them around.

"Stop!" Sarah shouted, holding her gun up.

Kat shared a look with John, who had tears beginning to well in his eyes. She couldn't think of any way this would end well. Suddenly she spotted the little girl from before being pushed through the doorway by…Derek.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kat exclaimed as she saw the gun Derek was holding near the child.

"Whatever I have to" Derek retorted, his eyes firmly on Sarkissian.

Kat couldn't believe that Derek was willing to put the little girl in danger, even going as far to threaten to kill her. There was a line that he was crossing, and Kat wasn't happy about it.

"You don't think I'll shoot her? I will!" Sarkissian insisted, pressing the gun further into her neck.

"You hurt her, and you'll be dead before you hit the ground" Derek warned him.

"Don't-" Kat began, but she never had the chance to finish her sentence.

In one quick motion, Derek had placed his hand over the child's eyes and raised his gun, shooting Sarkissian expertly in the head. Kat felt her heart stop beating for a moment, as the man beside her dropped to the ground. Derek had gone through with his threat.

"Kat!" John cried, as he ran forward, pulling her into his arms.

She numbly wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her breathing erratic and shallow. She could feel John was shaking against her.

"You're okay, you're okay" He repeated, more to himself than her.

Sarah was quickly by their side, her hand going to Kat's shoulder, gripping her their tightly, as if to make she was there. Kat looked up from where her face had fallen into the crook of his neck, her eyes meeting Derek's. The man who only moments ago appeared so calm, seemed to be barely able to stand upright now. He thought she was about to die, she realised. Was that the moment? Was it possible that Derek had just stopped her death?

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It seems like Derek and Kat are going to continue to grow closer, but how far will Derek let it go? Please leave a review:)

olischulu: Things will be starting to change in Season 2, as Kat will begin affecting events. I hope you continue reading the story:)

GertrudePerkins9: Thank you! I'm really glad you like this story:) I will be adding more of her backstory in soon, and that's a really good idea for flashbacks. Kat will end up have quite a big effect on events.


	12. Happy Birthday, John!

Kat cornered Derek, who was busy trying to delete any footage of them, while everyone else grabbed the Turk.

"What the hell was that?" Kat shouted, not caring how loud she was.

"You're alive, aren't you?" Derek retorted, not needing to clarify what she meant.

"Would you have done it? Would you have really killed that little girl?" Kat inquired, approaching him so they were standing only a few inches apart.

"…Yes" Derek answered, after mulling it over for a second.

"Oh my god…what is wrong with you?! She's a child! How can that not matter to you?" Kat exclaimed, angrily.

"Of course, it matters. But keeping you alive matters more-" Derek started, but she cut him off.

"Why? Why is my life so damn important to you?...Answer me!" Kat insisted, shoving him in the chest.

"Because you're my mission, Kat!" Derek admitted, his eyes widening when he realised what he had blurted out.

"What?" Kat frowned.

"I wasn't sent here to eliminate Skynet threats. I wasn't sent back here to protect John Connor. I was sent back to save your life" Derek explained.

"On whose orders?" Kat questioned.

"Who do you think? John told me I had to save you no matter what. Even if it meant sacrificing himself" Derek confessed.

"And then what happens? If John dies, Skynet wins. Which means we all die" Kat pointed out.

"I don't know, John didn't tell me everything" Derek shrugged.

"So, all this has just been about your orders?" Kat queried, as Derek nodded.

"Well…I'm sure John will be happy to know your such a good little soldier" Kat hissed, as she turned on her heel and left the room.

Derek gritted his teeth as he watched her go, wanting to tell her that he lied. That it wasn't the only reason he was protecting her. She had always been his idol, ever since he was a teenager, but now he actually knew her…it felt like more than that, he realised.

* * *

"Happy Birthday!" Kat grinned, as she all but bounced into the room, where John was busy typing on the computer.

"Someone seems happy" John stated, as Kat passed him a card.

"My little brother's finally sixteen, why shouldn't I be happy?" Kat stated as she sat down on John's bed.

John couldn't stop the grin that began on his face at the mention of the word 'brother'. He always wanted a sibling, and he couldn't think of anyone better than Kat. John quickly opened the card that simply stated 'Congrats, you're old now' on the front, as he shook his head fondly. When he opened the card, something fell into his lap, as he picked it up. It was a silver chain with a pendant attached, which he could see had writing on it.

"You got me a necklace?" John laughed, as she shrugged, clearly a little embarrassed.

"To John, I'll always be there for you, even when I'm not around. Kat" John read out loud, reading the tiny words on the back of the pendant.

"Do you like it?" Kat inquired, as John placed it around his neck.

"Yeah. I love it" He smiled at her, as they heard a sound from the doorway.

Both turned to see Derek standing there, and by the haunted expression on his face, he had been there for some time. Derek and Kat shared an intense look for a moment, as Derek put two and two together to understand the meaning behind the necklace. She was still expecting to die. And most likely before his next birthday.

"I'll go see if your mum needs anything" Kat mumbled, as she stood up from the bed, and pushed past Derek.

"She doesn't seem happy with you" John stated, as Derek entered his room.

"More like furious" Derek mumbled.

"I can't really blame her. You almost crossed a line yesterday" John pointed out.

"She could be dead if I hadn't. Is that really what you'd want?" Derek asked, a serious tone in his voice.

"No. I understand why you did it. You're here to make the hard choices. I guess that's why I sent you back" John theorised.

* * *

"Why are you bringing so much money? The supermarket cakes cost no more than $20" Cameron told her, as they walked towards the car, after being tasked with getting a cake for John.

"We're not going to the supermarket. I got a custom cake made last week in a bakery nearby" Kat replied.

"Why?" Cameron inquired.

"It's his sixteenth. It needs to be special" Kat explained.

"Why?" Cameron insisted.

"I…I don't know. It just is" Kat shrugged, as they reached the car, and she opened the passenger door.

"That's not a very good answer" Cameron stated, as she pulled herself into the driver's seat.

"Sometimes there's no reason to why people do things. It's just…how it is, I guess" Kat clarified, as Cameron put the key into the ignition.

Everything that happened next was a blur. The moment that Cameron turned the key, her eyes widened, and she shoved Kat out the door, with her superhuman speed and strength. Kat fell with a bang onto her back and knew instantly her back would be covered in bruises soon enough. Suddenly there was an ear-splitting bang in front of her, as the Jeep exploded, sending debris and glass everywhere. Kat held her arms to her face in an attempt to shield herself, as she crawled away from the destruction. As the flames slowly dispersed, she could see a heavily damaged Cameron still sitting in the car, staying unnaturally still.

"Cameron? Cameron!" Kat cried as she pushed herself up.

A moment later, Cameron's head twitched, and her eyes snapped open. From the blank look on her face, Kat could tell she was assessing the damage. It couldn't have been too bad, as she was soon pushing the broken dashboard off herself and exiting the car.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kat inquired, as Cameron finally seemed to notice her presence.

The machine tilted its head to the side and pressed its hand against the back of its head, as it pulled against something. Kat grimaced as Cameron pulled away a piece of metal scrap that must have been embedded in her head. She only had a split second to react before Cameron was throwing the metal towards her, only missing her head by inches.

"What are you-" Kat was cut off, as hands wrapped themselves around her neck.

She tried to choke some words out, as she clawed against Cameron's strong hands. The machine's eyes seemed out of focus as if she was barely aware of what she was doing. Suddenly, there was a shout from the house, which they both recognised was from John. Kat was dropped to the ground, as she gasped for the air she had been deprived. With a groan, she pushed herself up, knowing she needed to go after Cameron. Just as she was making her way into the house, there was a clatter above her, as she watched John and Sarah crash through the window upstairs. She was by their side in an instant, checking them over for injuries.

"What happened?" Kat questioned, as she helped John up.

"It was Sarkissian, he…he tried to…and then Cameron…she tried to shoot me!" John stuttered.

"She tried to kill me too," Kat told him.

"C'mon, we need to go" Sarah insisted, as they ran away from the house.

* * *

When Derek saw the house was ablaze, he felt his heart stop. Just for a moment. The next second, he jumped into action, and quickly knocked out a nearby firefighter and took his suit. He was quickly able to find out that two bodies had been found in the house, but there were both adult males. He allowed himself a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. She was alive. Now he just had to find her.

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! We've entered Season 2 finally, this is where things are going to start getting interesting. Derek's arc will be quite different from how it is in season 2 in the show, as Kat is going to change a lot of things. Please leave a review:)

Gast: Thank you, glad you like it:)


	13. Don't Leave Me

"Come on" Charley groaned, his hands fidgeting.

Derek had snuck into his ambulance while Charley was trying to find out whether the Connor's had been hurt in the fire. They had heard on the radio that there had been a collision and from the description, it had been the three people they were looking for. However, the trail had now gone cold and they were simply cruising around the streets, hoping to find a sign.

"So, what are you going to do when you find them?" Derek questioned.

"Do?" Charley asked.

"Join the team? Think she's gonna go with you, or let you take care of her, because it's not gonna happen. She left you at the altar for a reason" Derek explained.

"That's not what I want," Charley told him.

"Really?" Derek questioned.

"Yeah. I'm married" Charley stated.

"So, you say" Derek mumbled.

"I love my wife" Charley insisted.

"So, you say" Derek repeated, with an almost teasing tone.

"And what about you? Why are you so desperate to find them?" Charley pointed out.

"John's the future leader of the resistance, he needs-" Derek started, but Charley cut him off.

"To be protected, I know…So why when we asked who was involved in the crash, you only asked if the girl was hurt?" Charley exclaimed.

"Someone needs to look out for her" Derek said, a bitter tone to his voice.

"Sarah loves her like a daughter" Charley retorted.

"Not in the same way she loves John" Derek went on.

"What about you? Do you love those two in the same way?" Charley insisted as Derek looked uncomfortable at the question.

"I thought not" Charley stated.

"Just drive" Derek grumbled, wanting to change the subject, but this only riled Charley up more.

"Did you know Kat…in the future I mean?" Charley probed.

"No" Derek shook his head, not meeting the other man's eyes.

"I'm guessing you don't remember much from when you were shot?" Charley suggested, as Derek shook his head once again.

"I've never seen her like that before. I practically had to pull her away from you when you were unconscious. She didn't want to let go of your hand, not for a second. And from the way you were holding hers…, I'd say you felt the same. So, you're really trying to tell me you had never met her before?" Charley explained.

"It's…complicated" Derek answered.

"It always is" Charley sighed.

* * *

Kat joined Sarah in staring out of the church window that they were currently using as a sanctuary. It wasn't much but at least it meant they were off the streets. They all knew Cameron wouldn't be far behind. John had barely said two words since they had fled the house, managing to get in a car crash in their desperate attempt to get away. She could tell Sarah was more injured than she let on.

"Do you want me to take a look at your shoulder?" Kat questioned.

"It's fine," Sarah told her.

"You're clearly in a lot of pain, just let me-" Kat began, but Sarah cut her off.

"I said it's fine…I'm going to look around more, see if there's anything we can use" Sarah snapped, as she walked out of the room.

"You and your mum are like two peas in a pod" Kat shook her head, as she sat down opposite him.

"Oh, come on, are you giving me the silent treatment now too?" Kat rolled her eyes.

"Now's not the time to be sitting around talking" John retorted.

"We can't do anything yet, John. So why don't you tell me what happened with Sarkissian?" Kat suggested.

"He attacked us, he's dead now. There's nothing else to say" John said, as Kat scoffed.

"Fine, then let's talk about Cameron" Kat went on, as John flinched at her name.

"I said there's nothing else to say!" John snapped, surprising Kat.

"Look, I get it. Someone you cared about has betrayed you. It's understandable that you're upset, even in denial about it" Kat went on.

"Cameron betrayed us, everyone was right all along about her, is that what you want me to say?" John grimaced.

"Actually, I was going to say there might be a way to get her back" Kat suggested, as John's head shot up to look at her.

"What?" He frowned.

"If all that's gone wrong is a switch has flipped then there should be a way to flip the switch back, right?" Kat insisted.

"I thought you didn't like Cameron" John stated.

"I've never trusted her much, but she can protect you far better than any of us can. And she saved my life today" Kat admitted, as John's frown deepened, obviously wanting her to go on.

"When the bomb went off in the jeep, she pushed me out of the way without a split second's thought. I know she's a machine but-" Kat began, as John cut her off.

"There's something different about her" He exclaimed.

"Exactly. And I think it's important that we try to protect that" Kat went on.

"Try to protect what?" Sarah questioned, coming back into the room.

"We're going to try saving Cameron" Kat announced.

"Oh, are we now?" Sarah scoffed.

"I know that you think that killing her is the only way but-" Kat began, as Sarah shook her head.

"It is the only way! It's too dangerous! And even if it works, how long before she turns again?" Sarah pointed out.

"We can't protect John alone. We need her!" Kat exclaimed.

"He needs protection from her!" Sarah shouted.

"We're doing this mum, and you can't stop us" John growled, as he dragged Kat out of the room.

* * *

John and Kat watched anxiously from behind the curtains in the church, as Cameron walked over to the altar full of water, just as they had planned. The moment she placed her hand into it, John flipped the switch on the radio underneath the water, sending a large electric current surging through the machine. The three of them rushed forward, as John desperately cut into the back of Cameron's head to get to her chip. Things didn't go according to plan, as they realised that the screwdriver, they had obtained was the wrong size, and John wasn't strong enough to pry the metal open with a knife.

"We can't do this" Sarah shook her head, as she began to pull John away.

"She's waking up, go!" Kat gasped, as she pushed the pair up.

She spared one last look at Cameron as they rushed out of the church and saw the machine's cold eyes had opened. Sarah quickly managed to obtain a car for them, as she held the owner at knifepoint. They tried to lose the machine by going into an underpass but were shocked when they realised Cameron had caught onto their plan. Kat's eyes widened when she saw Cameron standing at the end of the underpass, making no move to get out of the way.

"Sarah, stop!" Kat shouted as they continued hurdling towards the machine.

However, it was far too late to stop, as they all braced themselves as Cameron shoved the car with her superhuman strength. Sarah couldn't regain control of the car, and soon they were flipping over, a silent scream escaping from Kat's lips before everything went dark.

* * *

"Mum? Mum?!" John exclaimed, as he shook Sarah's shoulder, sighing in relief when she opened her eyes.

His gaze quickly landed on Kat in the backseat, as he crawled over to her, finding blood pouring from her leg and head. His hands shook as he tried to stop the bleeding coming from her thigh, as he noticed that a large piece of glass had embedded itself in her skin.

"Kat? Kat, wake up!" He cried as he saw that Cameron had begun walking towards them.

"John, go. You need to go" Sarah told him.

"What?" John frowned, turning back to look at his mother.

"Go, go!" Sarah shouted as John looked back down at Kat.

"She won't wake up" He panicked, shaking Kat again.

"I'll look after her, but you need to go. Right now!" Sarah ordered, as John reluctantly began to crawl out from the wreckage.

A few moments later, Sarah was dragged out from under the car by Cameron, who quickly realised that she wouldn't be able to get John to come back by torturing his mother. Sarah had taught him better.

"Sa…Sarah?" Kat choked, her eyes flickering open.

Kat looked down to her leg, seeing the blood that was pooling beneath her, and knew it didn't look good. Her vision was already beginning to get blurry. Kat turned her head to look at Sarah, who seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"I…I'm sorry" Sarah cried, as she pushed herself up.

Kat's eyes widened, as she saw Sarah begin to limp away, and realised that she was leaving her there. Kat tried to crawl after her, but her arms were too weak, and her head was getting heavier by the second. She was going to die, she realised in a panic.

"Don't leave me…" Kat trailed off, as her eyes began to flicker close again, the darkness taking over her.

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope you all liked this chapter! Uh oh, is Kat going to make it? I wonder what Derek will say when he finds out Sarah left her behind? Please leave a review:)

Gast: Glad you're liking this story:)


	14. Dead?

Charley came to a sudden halt when he saw the overturned car in front of them, his foot slamming on the breaks. Derek was running out of the ambulance in an instant when he saw a body on the floor nearby. He let out a strangled gasp when he realised it was Kat, surrounded by her own blood.

"Charley!" Derek screamed as he crouched beside her.

"Kat? Kat, can you hear me?!" Derek questioned, placing both his hands on her face.

"Oh my God…" Charley trailed off, seeing the amount of blood around her.

"Help her!" Derek insisted, as Charley instantly tried to feel for a pulse.

"She's not breathing" Charley mumbled, as Derek placed his hands on her chest and began to perform CPR.

Charley let him do this for a couple of minutes, but he knew it would be no good. She had lost too much blood.

"Derek, stop…it's too late" Charley told him.

"No" Derek shook his head, as he leaned down and tried to breathe oxygen back into Kat's lungs.

"Derek! She's gone!" Charley insisted, grabbing his shoulder.

"She can't be!" Derek retorted.

"Look at her, Derek. She's been dead for a while" Charley sighed, taking in Kat's stiff appearance.

"This can't be happening…it can't be…" Derek stuttered, pulling her body into his lap.

"I'm sorry, there's nothing we could have done" Charley exclaimed.

"I was supposed to save her" Derek mumbled, dropping his head so it touched Kat's.

His head snapped back up when they heard footsteps approaching, and saw it was Sarah and John.

"Oh, God…" Sarah trailed off, her hands flying to her mouth when she saw all the blood.

"No, no!" John cried, taking Kat's body from Derek's arms.

"What happened?" Derek asked.

"It was Cameron. She…she overturned the car and…she was chasing us, and John had to…I couldn't leave him" Sarah stuttered.

"You left her?" Derek queried, standing up.

"Cameron would have killed John" Sarah replied.

"That doesn't answer my question…did you leave her?" Derek insisted; his voice low as he loomed over Sarah.

"…Yes" She answered, as he grabbed her by the collar of her jacket.

He never got to find out what he would have done next as suddenly there was a gasping noise from behind him. His eyes widened when he saw Kat sitting upright as John's arm supported her, as she looked around with confusion.

"What…what happened?" Kat asked, her hand flying to her thigh where blood had begun to pool out of again.

"Are you okay?" John questioned, as he took off his jacket and began to press it against her wound.

"I feel like I just got run over by a truck-" Kat began, but was cut off when strong arms were suddenly being wrapped around her.

She was more than a little surprised when she realised the arms belonged to Derek, who seemed to be hugging her as if his life depended on it. Knowing what a rare event it was, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and allowed herself to enjoy the hug.

"This is new" She mumbled into his shoulder, as his hands tightened around her waist.

"I thought you were dead" He admitted.

"It'll take more than a piece of glass to kill me…but also ouch, can I have this thing taken out soon?" Kat asked as the pair pulled away.

"We need to get you to a hospital" Derek stated, looking up at Charley.

The older man hadn't moved since Kat had sprung back to life and was now looking at her with a terrified expression.

"You were dead" He stated.

"Clearly not…it feels like someone did CPR on me anyways" Kat pointed out, as Derek looked at her guiltily.

"Does it hurt?" He questioned.

"Only when I breathe" She let out a pained chuckle.

"No…this…you had been dead a while when we turned up. You should be dead!" Charley insisted.

"Why are you saying that like it's a bad thing?" John inquired.

"I need to go" Charley mumbled, as he began to stumble away from the scene.

"Charley, wait!" Sarah called after him, as she rushed towards the ambulance.

"What are you doing?" She asked as he climbed into the driver's seat.

"When she woke up, her eyes…they were blue. Not like human eyes but like…like your machine's. She shouldn't be alive" Charley warned her, before shutting the door and turning the engine on.

* * *

"How're you feeling?" A voice announced as Kat's eyes flickered open.

It took her a moment to remember that she was in the hospital, and another to remember why she was there. She had died. Not almost died but been dead. And there had been nothing. No afterlife, no light at the end of the tunnel, just nothing. She hoped it had only been because she hadn't been dead for long, but something told her it wasn't. Shaking her head, she smiled as Derek entered her room.

"Is it safe for you to be here? What if someone sees you?" Kat insisted.

"I needed to make sure you were okay" Derek admitted, as he came to sit down on her hospital bed.

"Because of your mission?" She suggested.

"Because I…I care about you" Derek confessed, as Kat's eyes widened.

"Did that physically hurt to say? Do you need an ice pack?" Kat giggled, as Derek let out a laugh.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, maybe I'll change my mind" Derek teased.

"The Doctor's say that whoever performed CPR on me probably saved my life, so I guess I owe you" Kat pointed out.

"Well I did break a couple of your ribs at the same time" Derek retorted.

"No one's perfect" Kat exclaimed, as Derek laughed.

"What else do the doctor's say?" Derek inquired.

"That it's a miracle that I'm alive. I have a nasty concussion, but I should be out of the woods now. Same with my leg, but I'll probably need crutches for a couple of weeks before I get my strength back. Other than that, I'm healing well" Kat explained.

"Good. We're going to have to start house hunting soon, and I'm sure you'll want to share your opinion" Derek suggested.

"You know me so well" Kat smiled.

* * *

Kat was on the mend quicker than anyone had expected and after two days she was discharged from the hospital. Derek had stayed by her side the entire time, much to Sarah's displeasure as they knew it was risky. Neither John nor Sarah had visited Kat while she was in the hospital, a fact that she couldn't help but find suspicious. Her suspicions were confirmed as she walked through the parking lot, one hand using a crutch to help her walk. She saw John first, leaning against the car, with Sarah beside him and then…Cameron. Her eyes widened, and she saw out of the corner of her eye, Derek's hand immediately went to his gun.

"Wait! It's okay, she's good now" John called over to them, as Derek kept his hand on his gun at the back of his jeans.

"You put her chip back in?" Derek spat out, venomously.

"I fixed it. She's safe, I swear" John tried to convince them.

"Safe?! She's never been safe, John!" Derek insisted.

Cameron took a step forward, as Derek went to pull his gun out, but was stopped when Kat put her hand on his arm. She wanted to hear what Cameron had to say.

"I'm sorry you were injured. It is no longer my intention to hurt you" Cameron told her.

"What are your intentions?" Kat questioned.

"To keep John Connor safe" Cameron replied.

"What if your chip goes wrong again?" Kat inquired.

"It won't-" John began, but she cut him off.

"What if it does?" Kat insisted.

"Then Derek should use the EMP grenade he has and destroy me" Cameron answered, surprising Kat.

"You gave it to him?" John asked Kat, expecting it was the same EMP grenade he had made.

"He needed to feel safe. It's a good insurance policy" Kat stated.

"One foot out of line…and your dead" Derek warned the machine.

"I was never alive" Cameron frowned, as she walked back towards the car.

"Kat, can we talk-" Sarah began, but Kat stopped her.

"I forgive you" Kat announced, as Sarah's eyes widened.

"I…I shouldn't have left you," Sarah told her.

"No, you made the right decision. John was your priority as he should be" Kat pointed out.

"You died, Kat! That's not all right!" Sarah exclaimed.

"I don't blame you Sarah, and you shouldn't blame yourself either" Kat went on, before walking towards the car, leaving a confused Sarah standing there.

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Hmm, there seems to be more going on with Kat than we realised. We're slowly going to go down a more AU route from now on, as Kat's going to become a very important character for the future. Please leave a review:)

fastandloud: Thank you for the review, really glad you're enjoying this story:)

olischulu: Thanks for the review:) I'm glad you're liking my plot so far! I know what you mean about rushing through the story, I think that's just my preference when I'm writing, I don't like to dawdle. But I'll take what you said onboard and try to explore the story more thoroughly. As for the mum thing, they're both pronounced the same so I didn't think it would be an issue, but I'll keep it in mind in the future.


	15. New House

Kat looked up at what she expected would soon become their new home, with a look of awe in her eyes. Their last house had been big but this one was more like a mansion than anything else. With three bedrooms, four if you counted the nursery, it seemed like the perfect family home for a particularly dysfunctional group of people. It was perfect.

"Do you want me to carry you up there?" Derek teased, coming up beside her.

"You try it and I'll hit you" She retorted, with an amused smile.

"I'd like to see you try" Derek grinned, as Kat turned to give him a look.

"You don't think I could take you?" Kat inquired, as he glanced towards the crutch by her side.

"Well once I'm better we should have a rematch" Kat suggested.

"A rematch?" Derek asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't you remember the first time we met? I threw chips at you and kicked your ass" Kat told him, as he scoffed.

"If I remember rightly, that fight ended with me pinning you to the ground" Derek stated, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Ah! You must be the other daughter and…daughter's boyfriend?" A very pregnant blonde announced, walking down the slope towards them.

"Uncle" Derek corrected, as Kat could swear there was a slight blush to his cheeks.

"Oh…sorry. God, you look even worse than your mum! How bad was the car crash you guys were involved in?" The blonde gasped, taking in Kat's injured appearance.

"Pretty bad. Are you the owner?" Kat guessed as she received a shake of the blonde's head in response.

"Nope, I just look after the house while the owners are away. Do you need any help getting up here?" The blonde questioned.

"I can manage" Kat replied, as she began limping her way up to the house.

"She's, uh…very headstrong" Derek mumbled, as the blonde nodded.

Not even an hour later, Sarah had agreed to take the house and keep all the furniture inside, which clearly seemed strange to Kacy, the bubbly blonde. Kat had to admit it had everything they needed. Secluded, had a great vantage point of the local area, and not too expensive. The only problem was the bedroom situation. In which there were two females, two males and one machine living in the same house.

"No way am I sharing a bedroom with John" Kat shook her head when Sarah brought up the idea.

"Why not?" Sarah groaned, knowing this wasn't going to be easy.

"He farts in his sleep, Sarah" Kat pointed out, hearing a snigger from Derek in the background.

"Alright, so John gets his own room. You'll have to sleep in my room then" Sarah suggested.

"You're sleeping in the box room so you can sleep on the same floor as John, remember?" Kat stated.

"You just want the master suite, don't you?" Sarah guessed as Kat smiled sweetly.

"I got the crappy room in the past two houses. C'mon, it's my turn for an upgrade!" Kat pleaded.

"What about me?" Derek questioned.

"Looks like your back to sleeping on the sofa," Sarah told him, slight amusement in her voice.

"The master suite has a big enough bed for two people" Cameron announced, as everyone in the room turned to look at her.

"You don't sleep Cameron, why would you want a bedroom?" Kat inquired.

"I was talking about Derek" Cameron retorted, as Kat and Derek's eyes snapped up to look at each other.

"That would be inappropriate" Sarah exclaimed.

"Why? It's the logical decision" Cameron frowned.

"Because she's in high school and he's a grown man" Sarah snapped, quicker than she should have been able to.

"We're both adults, Sarah. I don't really care" Kat shrugged.

"Well, I do. And it's not happening" Sarah insisted, and they all knew there would be no changing her mind.

* * *

Kat crouched down to pick up the stack of chips from the oven, feeling the heat from the tray coming through the oven glove. She kicked the oven door closed and stood up, feeling her hand beginning to get uncomfortably hot. She went to place the tray on the counter when she realised her hand wasn't moving. She tried to clench her fist, move her fingers, do anything, but nothing seemed to work. It was like her hand wasn't her own anymore. She could feel the burning against her palm getting more intense, and without another thought, she used her other hand to take the tray and throw it onto the counter. She hissed as she felt it burn against her palm, holding the injured joint to her chest as someone walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, what happened?" Derek asked, approaching her.

"It's nothing. I just burnt my hand" She shook her head, as he curled his fingers around her wrist to look at the injured skin.

He pulled her over to the sink and placed her hand under the cold water with a sigh, as Kat was still too focused on what had just happened to her other hand. After a couple of minutes, he turned the tap off and begun to inspect her hand, patting it dry with a nearby towel.

"You know I'm the one who was looking into nursing, not you, right?" Kat laughed, as his gaze turned to her.

"You wanted to be a nurse?" He questioned, with a small smile on his face.

"Yeah…for a while. Guess some things just aren't meant to be" She shrugged.

"You'll be finishing school next year. There's still time" Derek pointed out, his hands still encasing Kat's.

"Not for me, there's not" She sighed, knowing she wasn't supposed to live for longer than a few more years.

"Hey, stop that. For all we know we might have already averted your…death" Derek exclaimed, grimacing at the word.

"You ever think that maybe the reason I keep almost dying recently is because I'm supposed to? Maybe it's what is meant to happen" She suggested.

"Well I don't care about that. I don't care about fate or destiny…I care about you" He stated, as she smiled lightly.

His words lingered in the air, as he suddenly seemed to realise, he was still holding her hand, and quickly let go, backing up a few paces. It seemed like he was about to walk away when he stopped and started to frown.

"How did you get down to open the oven in the first place?" He asked, noticing she wasn't using her crutch.

Kat looked down at her leg, as she began to feel the familiar throbbing returning of all a sudden. How did she manage to crouch down when earlier on she could barely walk more than a few metres? She clenched her fist a few times, as the joint still felt numb. Before she or Derek could say anything else, they heard a loud crash from the main room and Sarah's cry for help. Derek was first into the room, his gun raised, as Kat limped behind him. Derek held an arm up in front of Kat protectively, as he looked at the man bleeding out in Sarah's arms.

"Check the perimeter!" Sarah ordered Cameron as soon as entered the room, as the machine did what she was told.

"Greenway" The man mumbled, as Derek kneeled beside him.

Kat more or less fell onto her side, as her bad leg gave out as she tried to lower herself to the floor. It made no sense how only minutes ago she was able to crouch down with no problem at all. Shaking her head, she stripped off her plaid shirt and began pressing it against what she expected was a bullet wound to the man's chest.

"What? What are you trying to say? Who?" Derek inquired.

"Stop Greenway" The man choked on his words.

"Who's Greenway?" Derek asked, knowing the man didn't have long.

"Serrano Point" The man went on, as blood began to pour from his mouth.

"The power plant, Serrano Point" Derek nodded.

"Two days" The man exclaimed, as he began to let out a strangled sound.

"Two days what?" Derek insisted as the man began to fit.

"Wait, hey! No, no, no" Derek sighed, as the man grabbed onto Sarah's shoulder before going unnaturally still.

Kat quickly pressed her fingers to the man's pulse but felt nothing. It was too late.

"He's dead" She mumbled, taking her hands away from his chest.

"He's from the future. John must have sent him back" Sarah announced, as she stood up.

"He didn't get very far" Kat stated, as she closed the man's eyes.

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Hmm, I wonder what's wrong with Kat? Please leave a review:)

olischulu: Thanks for the review! Yes, things are going to start getting interesting, as we explore what's happening with Kat. We'll have some good dream sequences coming up soon. It will be explained why and where Charley ran off to in the upcoming chapters.


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